Merry Christmas!

Managed to keep a secret from the kids for three months and surprised them on Christmas Eve with a trip to DISNEYLAND! We had a wonderful time, and an all-too-brief visit with Mike and Lori and their families.

It is good to be home enjoying the quiet. I still have a few days off from work and will be getting our "Christmas" letter done and in the mail soon.

Happy New Year, everybody!

Talkin' Some Mac

What would Daddy say?

the clueless parent

the childcare center where i work had a christmas party on friday. the kids sang, santa came (i'm apparently still on the nice list! he called my name!), and we had cookies and punch. while visiting with parents at the party, one of the moms said "i saw arnold directing the pep band at the basketball game!" and i had no idea, of course. so i asked arnold about it and he says "oh, yeah, i'm kinda like drum major so i get to direct when mr. d doesn't want to or whatever."

today at our staff christmas luncheon terry says to me "i see arnold is being inducted into the hall of fame or something tonight." and of course i had no idea, again. it was in friday's paper on the sports page (which i don't read). sitka high school has a "wall of champions" and arnold's photo is being added tonight along with his other relay team mates that won the state track meet last spring.

i used to think i knew what my kids were up to.

Merry Christmas

Mental Pause

I know I need to post about Thanksgiving, but even thinking about how to put the experience into words makes me cry all over again. I am so very grateful for my family!

Here's what I found at my dining room table on Wednesday night. Eating McDonald's food! Now, if I had known they were coming, I could have made Welcome Home Stew. Way better than McDonald's.


I now have a complete set of totem pole pictures. Why this totem pole? I don't know. Mom chose it.

This is most of the food we had on Thanksgiving. The potatoes were still in the oven and the pumpkin cheesecake was still in the fridge (both dishes were from my boss, who was in on the secret). It was all good.

And then Cassie and I left on the early flight on Saturday for a day trip to Juneau, leaving my siblings alone (sort of -- Arnold was still home) in my house for a couple of hours. One of you needs to write up the whole story about the rabbit. The rest of the photos are posted on my facebook page (except for the one where the bunny has his head in the oven because you can see how dirty my oven is). The bad bunny raised a lot of questions. In particular "How old are your siblings?" Mmm hmm.

I love you people!

Iron Chef, part 7

The judges agreed that Cassie's meatball presentation was unique!! And pretty!

Cassie scored 14/15 for presentation, 12/15 for originality, and 7/15 for taste for a total score of 33/45.

Iron Chef -- Bonus Round

So, I was cooking some bacon after church to use up the bacon Kent put in his green beans, and Arnold decided to make a bacon sandwich with smoked peppercorn gouda cheese and red onion on the bread and broil it. And then he wanted to enter it in the competition (that's why this is a bonus round -- an unscheduled entry).

In the process, Arnold discovered a new power tool -- the Cuisinart. He was awed.

His sandwich creation with a side of sliced honeycrisp apples was DELICIOUS!


Scores: Taste 15/15, Originality 13.5/15, Presentation 10.5/15 -- total score39/45. That means Arnold is in the lead.

But, once again, I didn't have to do the cooking, so I WIN! (I'm loving this Iron Chef challenge.) Meanwhile, Cassie's in the kitchen with a plethora of ingredients out, trying to come up with a sauce recipe for meatballs. She's cooking tonight!

Iron Chef, Part 5

Kent's turn.

Kent scored 11.5/15 for taste, 13/15 for presentation, and 9/15 for originality for a total score of 33.5/45. The chicken was marinated in balsamic vinegar, molasses, and red onion. Tasty!


Just in case anybody's keeping track -- I'm still in the lead!

Oh -- and this is three whole times I haven't had to cook! So I win again!

SWF

a few of the girls from work (all half my age) came over last night for cocktails and appetizers. the theme, apparently, was cheese.

i got this little appetizer cookbook from pampered chef and tried a few recipes. brie and apple tartlets (delicious!), roasted garlic and red pepper potatoes (i never even noticed my store carried those tiny little red potatoes -- the filling had cream cheese as well as garlic and peppers), and little goat cheese and sundried tomato puffs. all from the cookbook. i also made parmesan artichoke dip and pear sidecars (not a hit with the younger crowd, but i like just about anything served in a martini glass!).

Iron Chef, part 4

Arnold's dinner of grilled chicken and rotini with alfredo sauce was well received by the judges. Interestingly, each of the three judges independently gave Arnold the exact same scores: Taste: 4/5, Presentation: 3/5, and Originality: 2/5 for a total score of 27/35.

Kent was inspired, though, to poke through the cabinets and ask to be entered in the competition. He'll be cooking on Saturday.

No challenge tomorrow night. I'm hosting a SWF party (cocktails and appetizers, and we're watching Single White Female).

Iron Chef, Part 3

Iron Chef Cassie prepared breaded chicken stuffed with mozzerella cheese and served on pizza sauce (yes, there were like 3 cans of pizza sauce in the cupboard), with a side of cheesy mashed potatoes.

While her scores for originality were low, the meal was very tasty!

Cassie's scores: Taste 12/15, Presentation 9/15, Originality 8/15. Overall: 29/35.

Way to go, Cassie!

Iron Chef, Part 2

no pictures. sorry. i left my camera at preschool.

last night's panel of judges was much harder to please. here are my scores:
taste 10/15, presentation 10/15, originality 9/15.

admittedly, the meal was NOT my original recipe, but i've never made it for my family before: aunt joyce's ham ball recipe (with slight modifications because i didn't have all the ingredients) with a maple and mustard sauce, mom's butter dip recipe (which should have scored me BIG points in the taste category), and sauteed green beans.

even though they gave me lower scores in the taste category, TWO of the three judges were asking for more. there were no leftovers, and i used leftover ham from the freezer. my score may only be 29 but i think i won!

cassie will be cooking tonight. something with chicken. i'll be sure to bring my camera home!

Iron Chef Challenge Week

hadn't posted for a while and thought i should catch up on the family blogs and of course ended up crying (thanks to emilee and lori). so here's something that WON'T make anybody cry.

i have this cupboard in my house that has two round shelves that are supposed to rotate. we mostly store canned and dry goods there. for months now the shelf has been so full of food that it is too heavy to turn. my solution? the iron chef challenge.

each of us will be cooking dinner twice this week using only ingredients already in the house (with one exception -- i told the kids if they needed a protein, i would buy it for their meals).

i cooked tonight and my scores were: 14 out of a possible 15 for taste (go, me!), 9 out of 15 for presentation, and 11 out of 15 for originality. total score: 34 out of 45.

dinner was ground beef, italian sausage and pepperoni with pizza sauce served over brown rice (topped with parmesan cheese), and steamed broccoli.

i'll also be cooking (and posting) tomorrow. cassie will cook on tuesday and thursday; arnold will be cooking on wednesday and saturday. kent will remain an impartial judge because he says the kids won't eat anything he cooks.

the best part? i'm not spending $200 on groceries this week.

7 stages

Arnold called me at work at 1:25 today and said something like "Hi, Mom. I'm gonna need to go the the E.R. and get stitches. Can you meet me at school on your lunch break or whatever?"

Seems Arnold's outdoor recreation class is in the middle of their unit on mountain biking. Arnold went down a steep, rocky hill (one the kids all love to sled on when it snows). He then had the idea that it would be fun to do it again FASTER!

Turns out that was a bad idea. Arnold and the bike parted ways at the bottom of the hill.

We were at the hospital for over three hours, and on the way home, it occurred to me that in those three hours we had pretty much experienced the seven stages of grief. On the way to the hospital, Arnold was commenting about how cool this was going to look at the starting line tomorrow (denial). The cross country team traveled to Juneau tonight for the Regional meet.

(skipping lots of boring waiting and what-not) ... the doctor looks at his knee, confirms that he'll need stitches. I tell the doctor "but he'll be running a 5k race tomorrow" and the doctor says "no, he won't be running for a couple of weeks." (here comes the emotional pain)

The the nurse is flitting around getting things ready for cleaning the wound and she comments "Oh, there will be other 5k's. I know you'll bounce back from this." Fortunately she was not looking at Arnold at the time. Arnold was wearing his angry face. It's pretty scary. (anger)

Anyway, by the time he got all cleaned up and moved to the procedure room (about 4:00), it was clear that the wound was much deeper than Arnold thought. Lots of local anesthetic later, he was sitting there looking into the hole in his leg while the doctor said "That's your muscle there -- flex it." And we could see the muscle flexing and Arnold was saying "Wow!" Forty-five minutes and 13 stitches later...

A few phone calls between us and the coach letting her know Arnold wouldn't be running, the coaches want him to go anyway to support the team, etc etc, and we made it to the pre-flight team dinner just in time for Arnold to head to the airport with the rest of the team.

My camera battery died before we got to the stitching part, sorry. It was pretty cool.

just bearly

Our first Early Childhood Nutrition class was tonight but it got out WAY early because not everyone had the syllabus (am i annoyed? oh, yes). So it's a beautiful evening and i got home nearly two hours earlier than planned. Asked Kent if he'd go for a walk with me but he's already in relax mode. Asked Cassie and was sure she'd say no because the ANTM premiere is on, but she said "sure!" Yeah!

So we're walking down the road toward the recreation area, get just to where the guardrail starts before the bridge across Granite Creek and hear what I assume is going to be a dog walking up from the creek, but no

It was a bear! So cute. Fish in it's mouth and all. Aw. Probably 20 feet away from us.

Cassie wasn't too keen on continuing our walk after that so we backed up, then crossed the street and headed back home.

Short walk, but exciting!

you're all invited

Okay, Gary, here's some advance warning for you:

Arnold's 18th birthday is October 13th. We'll celebrate it the Saturday after, which is during Alaska Day weekend (Alaska Day, October 18th), so plan to be here at least through the parade on Sunday.

Here's the schedule of events for Alaska Day: http://alaskadayfestival.org/events.html

Alaska Airlines is having their Fall Sale right now (through the 14th). Phoenix to Sitka $279 each way.

R.S.V.P.

come and knock on our door!

of course, i should have taken a "before" photo -- but here's the new door. i love it! and i installed the door handle and deadbolt all by myself!

the best part is, i'm signed up for the alaska housing energy audit program, and the new doors and bathroom fans are all part of the energy rating improvement plan so i'll get reimbursed!


the "come and knock on our door" party will be this sunday at 4pm. i'm making martinis and appetizers. let me know if you can come!

first day of school

Cassie started school Tuesday but had Wednesday off, Arnold started Tuesday also, but since he's a senior now he didn't have to be there until 12:25 for the first day orientation. Anyway, I wasn't able to take the traditional "first day of school" photo until AFTER school, but here it is. Cassie made us wait while she fixed her hair. Arnold was still "fixing" his hair in the photo...

pot luck!

Lolly wanted to have a pot luck at work yesterday for Cassie's last day (she's helped out at my work for most of the summer and we love having her there, but, sadly, she has to go to school today). I wanted to make the pecan-crusted chicken with spinach and cheese, but thought it too much work, so I made it into a casserole, and it was delicious! Here's the recipe:

Mix together
3 cups cooked rice
3 or 4 diced, cooked chicken breasts
1 bag of spinach, chopped up
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
4-6 ounches smoked peppercorn gouda cheese, shredded

put all that into a casserole dish

in the food processor, chop up
two really big handfuls of pecans with
about a teaspoon each of paprika, salt and pepper

top the chicken and rice with the pecans and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350.

it was really good. everybody at work liked it, and i'll make it again!

recycling

after the "not going away" party, i had empty margarita buckets. i thought the kids would enjoy using them on the playground because they have that handy spout on the side.

of course, kids never do what you expect them to do, and they do make lovely hard hats!

matchy matchy

Aren't we cute?

making money

There was a link to this website in the latest issue of Family Fun magazine. I thought it was cute.

Party Pics

Last year after the refinancing of the house went through, we had a "Not Going Away" party, and it was so much fun we decided to do it again.

Here's Cassie dishing up delicious chili. Mmmm. There was none left by the end of the party. There are still plenty of margaritas. Stop by and have some!

Coconut-lime cupcakes. Yum!

Arnold had difficulty staying out of the cupcakes before the party (I made three dozen), but there were enough leftover for breakfast this morning.

Cupcakes for breakfast? Oh yeah. It's a good thing.

Cassie, Justine and Arnold playing Guitar Hero. I had a turn on the drums earlier and Brooke was on guitar. Kent won't play but he likes to be in the pictures! I took a lot of pictures of our guests, but somebody is looking goofy in just about every one. Guess I need to work on my photography skills.

Just before the party my new front door was delivered! It's in the garage in a wooden crate. Can't wait to see it installed! Can you guess the next party theme?

"Come and knock on our door."

This post is for you, Ciretta!

Sorry it took so long. What is it?

Stylish coffee table for Cassie's luau-theme birthday dinner?

or

New ventilations fans for the bathrooms!

Gillespie women are so clever.

The birthday dinner was really fun. We got out the "chat pack" and everyone had a chance to answer the questions. I learned some things about my kids! This was my favorite Q&A, though:

Q: If rain could fall in any scent, which scent would you choose?

Kent's answer: Fifty Cent!

Thirteen Today!

and still an angel.

Happy Birthday, Cassandra Grace!

She's so cute!

Happy 39th birthday again, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Gary!

for Rachael

photos of the draperies in the Pittock Mansion, Portland...

a little dark, sorry. no flash photography allowed in the mansion!

just a few more vacation photos...

Mowing the lawn

Ready for the neighborhood parade in Tigard.

Recycled bird feeders at Saturday Market, downtown Portland.

Also at Saturday Market. Loved the colors!

Vacation Photos

Cassie investigating the crime scene in The CSI Experience at OMSI.

This is where we stayed.

Just kidding. It's the Pittock Mansion, built in 1914. Overlooks Portland. Beautiful home! Took lots of pictures of the draperies inside for Rachael (will post them later).

The Coach Outlet in Woodburn!

Barney and Cassie on the tram.

Walking along the river. There was a Blues Fest going on across the water.

Kent at Vista Point overlooking the Columbia River.

Multnomah Falls.

REDRUM! Timberline Lodge (you saw it in The Shining), where we stopped for lunch.

Cassie flipping out on the bungee trampoline. That's Mt. Hood in the background.
The "Adventure Park" was kind of a rip-off. Don't recommend it.

More later. Gotta go to work!