Reminiscing

Awwww...so sweet she was on 7/17/07.

And still is now, but I had to post this one. "My how you've grown..."

Sandy & Roman in the NY Times!

Roman is permed! And has raised over $3000 - No, I just checked his website, over $4000! - for his friend who's battling a potentially paralyzing disease.

Nice work, Roman!

Check out The New York Times (Really?! Isn't that amazing?!) article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/nyregion/16perm.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion

Happy "Valenstime" Day!

That's what Zach says, "Happy Vah-lens-time Day!
And "Sanks for da new coo shirt, Nana an Pop."

And here's our Fancy Livvy, in her new Fancy Nancy shades and purse,

wearing her party (more on that, later) dress.

Found this Valentine's "message" at the park on Wednesday.
Happy Heart Day!

A little kitchen flare

Picture this: The Kids Wish You Happy Valentine's Day!

Savor this: The kids are in bed, and the parents enjoy a crab dinner a deux. Ahhhh.

While the Dad's Away...

...the Mom will Play, and Craft, and Clean, Cook, and Change Diapers, and Shuttle, and...

And we eagerly await Dadddy's return.

Roman Needs a Perm

Some of you know my friend and jewelry-maker extraordinaire, Sandy Hyun. One of the coolest chicks I know, and she's found herself an awesome, creative BF Roman, with a big heart and lots of hair.

Their friend Jenny is beginning a battle against cancer, and Roman is up to All Good. Check it out.

The Symphony!

Olivia and Zach at the edge of the stage

Way across from us were the violins

"Our" bassist was just a step away!

Check out the accoustic ceiling, and the conductor

Olivia soaking it in

Zach and Ella getting some tips from a violinist

Thanks (so much) to Lisa, we learned of the Junior Symphony Guild's concert for kids at the Denver Performing Arts Center today. Along with maybe 500 other kids and parents and teachers, we sat on the Boettcher Concert Hall's stage surrounded by musicians who delighted us with sad music, stomping music, waking up in the morning music, quiet and loud music, cat and elephant music, and finally "The Horse Song" (the William Tell Overture). It was brilliant!

Zach has been all about the "band" (aka 'guitar') and the violin lately, so I thought this might really be up his alley. Today, he and Olivia were a little reserved, maybe because they couldn't move around as much as they wanted and probably because they were a few hours short of sleep. But even so, they gazed wide-eyed at the musicians and instruments all around us.

The conductor was a hoot, throwing in jokes (and a few sales pitches) for the adults as he livened up the kids with annecdotes about how Saturday mornings are made for...queue Looney Toons music, and teased the 5-year-old piano soloist about not spending any time practicing (right before said soloist poured out a beautiful piece).

At the end, kids could get up close and personal with some of the instruments and musicians. It's apparent that these folks love what they're doing and love the opportunity to share with little ones. This will be an annual event for us!

Bonus Points for anyone who can correctly name the tunes in the video clips while ignoring Zach's, "When are we gonna leave here, Mom?"

Click here for more pics.

Clip 1

Clip 2

Clip 3

Clip 4

And check out this news story (and video). I love the quote from the music director:
"Our purpose is to seed as many important melodies in their little ears as we can, because you know, it's just soaking into that sponge," said Tom Jensen, the music director for the guild. "Music soothes the savage toddler."

In case you're still thirsting for more, here's a little about the event, from their website:
Tiny Tots is a unique program developed by the Junior Symphony Guild to introduce children ages 6 and under to symphonic music. A unique and exciting perspective is achieved by having the children sit inside of a large circle of 30 musicians. The children are free to move with the music or to concentrate on a musician who is sitting just inches from them. With "theatre of the mind" exercises children have an opportunity to actively engage with the music.
The concerts entertain children with music from standard repertoire; TV shows, cartoons, movies and commercials. The Tiny Tots program cultivates an appreciation for symphonic music among young children by helping them to discover that symphonic music is around them every day.
Each concert lasts approximately 45 minutes. Children and adults sit on the floor, and the concerts are limited to 500 people with seating in the round. Concerts sell out quickly, so tickets should be purchased in advance.

Here is the repertoire for this season's Tiny Tots series:
* excerpts from the Opera Carmen, Bizet
* excerpts from the Marriage of Figaro Overture, Mozart
* excerpts from Hungarian Dance #5, Brahms
* excerpts from Symphony #7, Beethoven
* Waltz from Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky
* Puss 'n' Boots divertissment, Sleeping Beauty with ballet dancers, Tchaikovsky
* excerpts from the 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody, Liszt
* intro: Also Sprach Zarathustra, R. Strauss
* Elephant variation, Carnival of the Animals, Saint Saens **
* Montagues and Capulets, ballet music, Prokofiev
* Finale from the Fire-bird Suite, Stravinsky
* Hall of the Mountain King, Grieg
* Morning, Grieg
* Sabre Dance, Khachaturian
* excerpts from Poet and Peasant, von Suppe
* excerpts from William Tell Overture, Rossini

** The elephants (basses) were right next to us!

The Grammys

...inspired a rockin' performance on our center stage as well!

Any Questions?

Not to take anything away from the heroic and incredibly skilled landing by Sully, but perhaps he had some help?

More Joy, Please

As we get older, so many of those stories we hear about "someone" become stories about "us" and "our friends and family." I love it when those stories are joyful. And my chest shrinks when they are not.

I'm writing about this now because I've heard another story that contains both joy and sorrow. Out of the sorrow has come joy, and I hope only that grows.

If you're one to pray, or send good thoughts, or whatever, would you send up a few for almost-four-year-old Tess and her family? She was diagnosed on Tuesday, January 20th with neuroblastoma. That Friday she had surgery to remove a tumor and a lymph node.

Joy: By Monday afternoon, Tess had recovered enough to go home with her sisters and brother.

Because cancer is also in her marrow, it's likely Tess and her parents will fly this weekend to have her marrow harvested (so it can be reintroduced later, after the bad marrow has been removed) and to begin a regimen of chemotherapy. That out-of-state stay will last several weeks.

Through all of this, Tess and her family will need all the support they can get.

It doesn't matter how Tess is connected to me, because all that matters is that hopefully now she will be connected to you, as you join the prayer chain for her recovery. (But if you're curious, she's the second daughter of one of my sister's best friends.)

After reading the Journal on Tess's Caring Bridge site, I felt compelled to spread the word of Tess' challenge. I don't believe it was just my need to type that moved me to do so.

Joy: I believe I'm part of Tess' little army now. Within the Journal, Spencer and Libby have eloquently chronicled their absolutely incredible week. Their strength and faith and graciousness are humbling.

Joy: It's amazing what we can do when put to the test, especially when we're surrounded by love and faith. I pray warmth will continue to wrap them, and to heal little Tess. And that the joy that is this warmth will continue to grow.

Read her story: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/princesstess

High Tea 1/24/09

Thanks to Jade, who made all the arrangements, the Radicals finally all made it to tea at the Brown Palace on the last Saturday in January. What a beautiful scene. The seven of us Radicals *plus one Radicalette* sat around a large square table just inside the lobby door. I don't know if anyone had been to high tea there before, but it was my first time, and I felt so spoiled.

After our last-minute ride arrangment shenanigans, I decided it was the afternoon to also try my first belini.

Our server presented our three teas, The Brown's Crown Jewel, Vanilla Rooibos (in honor of the previous book selection The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency), and the Jasmine Fragrant Cloud green tea (which is described as light and ethereal, which is one of Pioneer Woman's favorite words!).

We noshed on scones with Devonshire cream and preserves and tea sandwiches and pastries. The delectable dishes were second only to the beautiful, quality girl-time. Thanks, Ladies!

oH oH oH, Snow in Colorado!

Ahhhh...It's been a lovely, lazy Friday afternoon here.

I put up the new blog template (a task that's been on hold, pending my backing up all the entries, but I finally decided to throw caution to the wind, let go of the anal rententiveness for a few minutes, and just go for it!), uploaded some pictures to KodakGallery, sorted some other photos and various other random, geeky computer things. Nothing like wasting hours on the computer when there's a Classic waiting to be read, right? And, I wasn't even on Facebook during these lost hours.

And it made me happy, so Yay! :)

Imagine my surprise when I looked up from the screen to see what's swirling outside right now? (And what Christmas decoration *Ho Ho Ho* has been left forgotten on the ground...) Oh Oh Oh, it's SNOW!

Just in time to head up the mountain to celebrate Scott's *BIRTHDAY* on Sunday!

Still A Fan

Even though Scott says Grey's Anatomy is on its way down (I don't like to admit it, but he can be right about these things sometimes, like with Alias), I'm still a fan.

From last night's episode, one of my favorite bits of dialogue was when Derek came to Cristina's house to get her help with Meredith:

Derek: "She's in the car and she won't stop crying."
Cristina's response: "Did you propose?"

Cristina's awesome. Seriously.

(Seriously, though, could the writers stop with the 'seriously'? I can't say the word without thinking Grey's Anatomy - aha! - and how the word now annoys me.)

Pumpkin Pride - My Alma Mater

Wow, it’s been a big week for Morton (“Pumpkin Capital of the World”), IL!

First, we had to say goodbye – on Prime Time – to a Mortonite contestant on “The Bachelor.” I’ve never been an avid follower, but felt I had to watch to see what transpired as Natalie vied for Jason’s hand in marriage. Last night she was eliminated, but not before she went on a crazy date ($1 million worth of diamonds on loaner, lear jet and helicopter rides to Vegas, private concert).

Just now, thanks Facebook, I learned that the MHS marching band was one of the 90 organizations taking part in the Inaugural parade! Wow!
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x683056945/Morton-band-off-to-Barack-and-roll

Morton is slowly but surely taking over the world.

Loveland

We're not certain, but it may have been about 5 years - before last Saturday - since Scott and I last really "skied" together. Wow. That's a long time (filled with back injury, pregnancy, and/or general newborn business)!


So....WOOOOOO-HOOOOOO!!!! We had a great time on the slopes with sun, new snow, friends, and a few yard sale tumbles just for good measure.


The first run! Can you see how excited Scott is (believe me, NOT to have his picture taken, though):
The shot that proves I was there. Wouldja adjust those goggles, girl? I knew they were doing something funny to my vision.

Scott with Chad and Carey and someone in a blue coat.
We're hoping to get back up the hill this weekend!

Top 2008 Movies?

MovieFone.com lists its opinion of the top 50 movies of 2008. I realized *surprise, surprise!* that I have seen exactly one of them, though we do own WALL-E, and I think Zach may have seen it 3 times on the drive home from MN...does that count?

Have you seen any of these? Which do you recommend? BlockbusterOnline, here we come!

Starting with #50:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Burn After Reading
Mamma Mia
The Bank Job
Bolt
Son of Rambow
W.
Quantum of Solace
Defiance
The Duchess
Appaloosa
Wanted
Zach and Miri Make a Porno
Boy A
Religulous
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
American Teen
Planet B-Boy
Horton Hears a Who
Rachel Getting Married
Dear Zachary
Let the Right One In
Pineapple Express
The Wackness
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
Gran Torino
Happy Go Lucky
Taxi to the Dark Side
Shine a Light
Revolutionary Road
Kung Foo Panda
In Bruges
Doubt
JCVD
Role Models
SUrfwise
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Counterfeiters
The Reader
The Visitor
Tropic Thunder
Milk
Man on Wire
WALL-E
Frost-Nixon
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Wrestler
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Iron Man

So Easy, Yet SO Worthwhile

I got this email from my sister Laura who works at the National Marrow Donor Program. The NMDP is a non-profit that coordinates marrow donation and transplant matching for patients and donors all over the world.

I'm so impressed with how much the company involves all their employees in the overarching mission of their company. Laura, fantastic number-cruncher and manager that she is, can speak quite eloquently about the technicalities involved in marrow and stem cell transplant processes. When some of my friends were involved in transplant red tape, she was able to provide information to contact real people for help. A friendly voice can go a long way in some of those times.

But, back to the company, I have to say it's invaluable that they keep their employees involved and interested by sharing success stories with them and making them feel a part of those successes. What better motivation and retention methods can there be than helping employees feel responsible for having saved a life?

Below is the email message Laura got. I hope you'll take a moment to read about the NMDP and maybe even consider registering as a donor. What a great, selfless way to start off the New Year.
Good Afternoon,

Thanks to the work you do, little boys like Matthew Welling overcome life-threatening diseases, donors like Steve Karas and Jill Goldsmith save lives, and corporate partners like Aflac encourage more than a thousand employees to join the NMDP Registry.

Today 3-year-old Matthew is thriving because of the generosity of Steve, an NMDP donor, and Jill, a Gift of Life donor.

And, a recent CNN news segment highlighted Matthew’s story with outstanding results. CNN has millions of TV and online viewers, including an average of one million unique online visitors each day. Within the first 24 hours:
· 65 TV stations picked up the story, carrying our message to a viewing audience of more than 1,151,997 viewers
· More than 10,000 visitors came to www.marrow.org from CNN
· 344 individuals took the first step to joining the NMDP Registry by signing up online (on an average day, 21-35 sign up).
· Recruitment and Community Development and the Call Center experienced increased call volumes and responded to more than 70 e-mails submitted by visitors to marrow.org (a normal day brings about 30 such e-mails).

We are pleased to be collaborating with the Welling family and Aflac to help raise awareness of the opportunity to spread the word about our mission. By working together, our messages are stronger, our reach is greater and our results more effective.

If you haven’t had a chance to see this article, you can read Matthew’s story on CNN.com. We’ve also created a link from the News and Events section of insideNMDP. Please continue the momentum by sharing this compelling story with others through e-mail and social media sites and encourage more people to join the donor registry now.

Zach's New Year's Resolutions

Women - Amazing

Wow! I got this forward from a friend -thanks Becky!- and knew it was something that I had to share. I believe it's an excerpt from The Middle Place (has anyone read it? I'd like to), but I'm not certain. It is written by the same author, Kelly Corrigan.

I hope you will take a few minutes to listen and, I hope, enjoy this beautiful tribute to the bonds of women. I guess I'm still feeling The Love this New Year.

Thank you, all my female friends and family members! You are the best!

* Below is my attempt at a transcript, but I may have missed a few words, and it's so inspiring to hear it from the author, so listen first. *

Transcending
Words on Women and Strength
-Kelly Corrigan

I had one of those milestone birthdays a few months back. I tried to make a toast, something about my mom and her friends who call themselves the Pigeons. But I blew it.

There were once at least a dozen Pigeons, a self-effacing twist on “hens.” In the past few years, they lost two of the greats, Robin Birch and Mary Maroni, to cancer. On the Pigeons go, though, like women do, limping one minute, carrying someone the next.

They started in the 60s, in suburban Philadelphia, with bridge and tennis and Chardonnay…okay, vodka. And, over time, became something like a dedicated fleet, armed ships sailing together, weather be damned.

For me and women of my generation, it started with play dates, cutting carbs, and meeting on Monday mornings in workout clothes to do awkward moves with large, colorful balls. And I can see exactly where it’s heading:

We’ll confer about jog bras, and contractors and pediatricians.

We’ll gossip about babysitters, teachers and in-laws.

We’ll speculate about who had a shot of Botox, who cheats on their taxes, who cleans until midnight.

We’ll persuade each other to bake, fold, stuff and write checks for our favorite non-profits.

We’ll celebrate each other’s achievements, opening an exercise studio, a corner store, a jewelry business.

We’ll celebrate our kids’ achievements, making the traveling team, singing in the choir, learning to use the potty or speak French or play the flute.

We’ll borrow eggs, earrings, extra chairs.

We’ll throw birthday parties for each other and stain the rug and shatter the wine glasses and mark up new counters with the odd slice of lemon.

We’ll worry about who seems down, who looks tired, who’s drinking more and more.

We’ll say things we wish we hadn’t and have to find a way to regain each other’s trust. Things will break; they always do. Many will be fixed.

We’ll fret over our children, too shy, too angry, too needy. We’ll brainstorm ways to help them become more resilient, patient, light-hearted. We’ll protect them fiercely, pulling little bodies from the deep end, double latching windows, withholding car keys.

We’ll bury our mothers and fathers, shuttling our children off for sleepovers, jumping on red-eyes, telling each other stories that hurt to hear about gasping agonal breaths, hospice nurses, scars and bruises and scabs and how skin papers shortly after a person passes. We will nod in agreement that it is as much an honor to witness a person come into this world as it is to watch a person leave it.

People will drift in and out. Book clubs will swell and thin. We’ll write someone off, and they’ll reemerge later. And we’ll remember both why we loved them and why we let them slip away. But we’ll be softer, and we’ll want them back.

We’ll admire each other for a fine crème brule, a promotion, finished marathon. We’ll commiserate about commutes, layoffs, mortgage rates, and the High School Musical soundtrack.

We’ll confide in each other about feeling anxious or angry or uninteresting or about how many pieces of Halloween candy we accidentally ate from our kids’ bags. We’ll confess that we text while driving or that we should be having more sex or that we yell at our kids every day.

We’ll admit that we believe in God, Jesus Christ, Heaven and Hell. Or that we don’t.

We’ll give up things together, caffeine, Tylenol PM, catalogs, social smoking. We’ll take up things too, morning walks, hybrids, organic dairy, saying Grace.

We’ll diagnose each other’s brown lawns, torn muscles, basement odors. We’ll check each other’s heads for lice, examine new bumps and moles, and listen to a list of symptoms.

We’ll teach each other how to set a ring tone, make a slide show, or download a movie.

We will call and say, “I heard the news.” And whatever the news is, we will come running - probably with food. We will insist on second opinions, lots of rest, and the best surgeons. We will face diseases, many kinds, and we will temporarily lose our hair, our figures, and our minds.

Eventually, someone who’s not supposed to die will. Maybe one of us, maybe a husband, God forbid a child.

And all this celebrating and sharing and confessing will make certain essential comforts possible. We will rally around and hold each other up. And it won’t be nearly enough, but it will help the time pass, just a hair faster than it would have otherwise.

We will wait patiently and lovingly for that first laugh after the loss. When it comes, and it will come, we will cry as we howl, as we clutch, as we circle.

We will transcend, ladies, because we did all this.
In that worst moment,
we will transcend.

Bikini? Nah, maybe in 2010...

Why don a bikini to jump into barely-warmer-than-freezing water on New Year's day, when you could be a soaking tribute to the Hawks, complete with pigtails and under-eye black stuff?

Welcome, 2009! Hawks Win!

(Repeat performance expected 12pm, January 1, 2010. Additional teammates requested. Contact me for details.)

Evergreen Polar Plunge - Evergreen, CO

Yep, so a friend suggested all of our husbands should do the Evergreen Polar Plunge this year. Turns out my husband was not interested, and then my friend couldn't participate, so I was the lone plunger.

Yeeesh! It was a bit chilly, as you can imagine. We were sorted by red and purple bracelets. The 50 red bracelets got to go first. Of note: the first plunger was a 16 year-old girl with cerebral palsy who had raised $2500 for the cause. Her father and another man held her in their arms as all three jumped in. Now that takes some gumption.

After the red bracelets were done, we purple bracelets took off our towels and coats and inched our way closer to the caution tape line that barred us from the "no-more-than-three-people-on-the" stairs and the carpet path that led out to the plunging pool cut into the ice. There really wasn't too much structure to the event beyond keeping us off the stairs. Once we got down to the ice, we were free to dawdle or dash toward the water.

Speaking of, the water was basically a 10 foot by 20 foot pool cut into the ice...about 50 yards from where people were ice-skating. That's why it's a polar plunge, I guess. A couple of firemen in some serious water suits awaited us in the pool. As I toed the edge of the ice, I was kind of waiting for someone to say, "Okay, let's go." But the chilly fire guys weren't hurrying anyone, so I just did a quick, "Go Hawks!" and jumped on in.

Ummmmm...yeah, burrrr....The water was only about 5 feet deep, and I didn't go all the way under. Something to look forward to next year? The firemen pushed me toward the other end of the pool, where a ladder hooked out of the pool. Two more guys stood at the edge ready to scoop any shell-shocked jumpers, I guess. I managed to climb out myself, and spat out a few words to the reporter emceeing the event. A fellow Iowa-sweatshirt-clad guy whooped a bit when the reporter noted that the Hawkeyes were in the house.

Then, slightly in shock, I ran over to Carey (thanks Meinert fans!) who had my cozy bathrobe waiting and headed off to the warming hut to change. Scott and the kiddles were cheering, and shivering on the side of the lake, so once I was dressed, we headed to QDoba for a little Mexican warm up.

Really, it was not a warm event. But it was awesome. And I'll do it again. Will you?

Christmas Letter 2008

December 2008/January 2009

Greetings of the Season, Dear Friends and Family!

We’re still writing from Colorado, and it’s hard to imagine a place we’d rather be. The sun, the mountains…with some more of you and a large body of water, it’d be perfect. We’re excited that the kids can do a bit more on their own, and last summer we enjoyed some hikes and swims at Bear Creek Lake Park. A few weeks ago, we even went to so far as to purchase a four-pack of ski tickets for Scott and me to use. It’s been a years since we’ve really threaded the slopes, so this little toe-dip back in is pretty exciting.

We feel blessed that 2008 was rich with visits to and from family. We greeted the New Year in balmy Fargo celebrating my cousin’s nuptials. The youngest guest at the wedding was my sister’s one-month-old baby, Kacie Clair, sweet girl! Then both sets of grandparents visited Denver in February, March, and April, able to help us celebrate Olivia’s big, first birthday and Zach’s Spiderman cupcake third. In July, we drove back to MN for Olivia and Kacie’s joint baptism at the church where my grandma served coffee for 30 years. The kids (and we ‘rents) enjoyed time at the lake, and Zach caught his first fish. We should have just kept the car packed because in August we headed up to Montana to see Scott’s uncle, grandma and parents. Again, Zach was thrilled to operate the hay-baler. We welcomed Nana and Pop back to Denver as they headed west in October and back through in November. The kids love all the time they get to be spoiled by grandparents!

It seems impossible, but Zach is going to be four in March. He continues to amaze us with his learning. He must be the smartest child on the planet! He played in a fall soccer league and started at a new T/Th morning preschool up the hill from us. Trucks and outdoor play remain high on his list of favorite things, but he enjoys “projrecks” like painting and making potato stamps. It’s hard to find him happier than when he gets to spend time “working” with Daddy, but he sure does love to play with Olivia and celebrate her new words, “She said ‘bus!’ Mama, she said ‘bus!’”

As you’d imagine, Olivia remains fascinated with her big brother and everything he does. She started a morning daycare program one day a week, and I love to read her report cards, which usually mention cars and trucks. She’s at “that active stage,” and every once in a while we can spy the little horns sprouting out of her bean. It’s been a big year for Olivia, as she learned to walk, or rather run, at about 14 months. She’s definitely our climber, and has so far focused most of her energy into the physical development, though recently she’s started speaking two-word sentences. We know, too soon, we’ll be wishing she were a little less verbose. We’ll enjoy it all as it comes!

And what of the parents? Scott continues to find (not enough) time for his two-wheeled pursuits. The big rides this year were the Triple By-Pass (120 road miles over 3 mtn. passes) and the Breck 67 (67 miles of beautiful but grueling off-road terrain), which he finished like a champ. His job with Square D takes him to Phoenix almost every month, but not for too long. We’ve set up a great babysitting exchange with some neighbors, so we even get some date nights in.

I remain entertained by and committed to book club, shuttling kids, and various crafty projects. I ran the Bolder Boulder 10K with some friends in May and tried to play some softball until I had a season-ending ankle sprain. As I managed to procrastinate on this letter long enough to take us into the new year, I can share that I “plunged” into 2009 via the Evergreen Polar Plunge! What a fantastic cleansing moment it was. We’re thankful that Scott is still employed and I’m able to stay home with the kiddoes.

Though our house doesn’t have lavish guest bedrooms, we always welcome visitors and would love to show off our haunts and hikes. In the mean time, you can keep up (sort of) with our daily stuff via our blog: http://thewallacesonline.blogspot.com. Please keep in touch!

Much love to you,
Kjirsten, Scott, Zach & Olivia

Cookies

Yummmmm.

Life is flying, was this the 6th annual cookie exchange?

Going-for-Coffee French Toast

Okay, if I'm going to be really, really honest, this is called:

Going-for-Starbucks-Because-I-Was-Up-WAY-Too-Late-Reading-Twilight-Last-Night French Toast.
Here it is:

• 3 slices of bread, on-its-way-out-the-door bread is great for French Toast, especially if it's a Caffeine Now! Morning and you haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping in a while.
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 - 1 c milk, or more, if you want to make more toast
• 1 teaspoon vanilla, that's probably more than you need, but I always like a lot of vanilla
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 dash cinnamon - do you like how I use these technical terms? It's because I never measure any of this except maybe the egg and the bread.
  

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Butter or Spray-Pam a smallish baking pan with 1-inch sides. Place the bread in the pan. Depending on the number of pieces I cook, or my concern about the appearance for guests, I tear the bread in half, so I can smoosh it all in there.

Mix all the remaining ingredients together, and pour over the bread in the pan. It will seem, unless you've really whacked it out of proportion (coming from one who's never had to add a little milk on top), like there is much more liquid than you need. But just be patient, and the coffee trip will do its magic. In fact, if you're adept enough at delaying your departure with where-is-that-other-boot, seriously-can-you-please-not-have-just-pooped-right-now-ALL-over?, and what's-wrong-with-the-d*&$-garage-door-that-makes-it-necessary-for-me-to-be-pulling-out-of-the-driveway-before-realizing-it's-just-not-going-to-close-from-the-car-and-I'll-have-to-go-back-in-and-come-out-the-front-door-s, you may get an extra trip or two inside the house, and you'll see that the way too much liquid has, in fact, already been sopped up by the thirsty bread!

Now, you deserve it, go get a BIG cup-o-joe. Go through the drive-through, because you haven't gotten out of your PJs yet, though you may have put on jeans over them, and a scarf. Oh, and the kids are barely clothed, unless pre-heating the car and putting boots on them counts as clothing.

Come home to find the cat sequestered in the basement because the timer you set for 30 minutes was already 10 minutes down before you came back in the house to head out the front door before someone drove off with your kids in the car you left running so they didn't freeze, and it's been going off for about 15 minutes because everyone else in the neighborhood apparently stayed up reading Twilight too long last night too, so the drive-through line lasted long enough for you to hear just the lead-ups to several interesting NPR stories before one of the kids started screaming about something or another. Turn off that timer. Thank goodness for high altitude and low temperatures.

Pull out the pan of French Toast. It may look a little brown on top, but brown's okay because underneath that brown is a moist, egg-y piece of toast, begging for some syrup and butter.

Slather it up, slice it, and suck it down with your cup-o-Ahhhhhhh...

Let me know if you have any questions while trying this. I tried to put in a few tips, but you never know when someone might need a little extra direction.

Women

There are so many women with whom I'd like to

*and with whom I get to* do this.
Thank you to all of you!

Text on the art reads:

Each year the women gathered to renew their spirit,

nourish their souls,

and earn their laugh lines."

Item found: http://www.femailcreations.com/products/sku-143702.html

Charitable Giving

We've been talking about wanting to do some volunteering as a family. Mostly as a note to myself, below are some ideas listed in Colorado Parent magazine.

We're hopeful that giving time can help as much as giving resources. Some of the challenge will be to find a place or organization that will allow us all to participate in some fashion. Have you heard where they might need the assistance of a LittleCrazyGirl? Or a Yackety Zach? Before I saw this list, I thought maybe we could make cookies and sing carols for the folks at the assisted living center near us. I'd love to have helped with a dinner at the Ronald McDonald house too, but I don't think bringing our germies in there would be much help. We'll see.

1. Brookdale Senior Living http://www.brookdaleliving.com/
2. Dumb Friends League http://www.ddfl.org/
3. Food Bank of the Rockies http://www.foodbankrockies.org/
4. The Gathering Place http://www.the-gatheringplace.org/
5. Goodwill Industries http://www.goodwill.org/
6. Mercy Corp http://www.mercycorps.org/
7. Metro Volunteers http://www.metrovolunteers.org/
8. Sacred Heart House http://www.sacredhearthouse.org/
9. Samaritan House http://www.samaritanhouse.com/

Some more ideas from CO Parent:

1. Host a Potluck with a Purpose - Invite friends and neighbors to a potluck, and ask them to also bring a nonperishable food item and two personal care items. Deliver these to an agency in need.
2. Hands-on Help - Volunteer at a local retirement community: set up movie hour, play board-games, or just visit residents. Make a "grand-friend."
3. Mercy Kits - Make a global impact, sending out a mercy kit that fits your budget ($20, meals for children, $35 grow a garden, $40 help women start a business, $ 100 provide farmers with goats to suppport their families, all the way up to $1000) http://www.mercycorps.org/mercykits

Do you have any ideas? Places you've always wanted to, or have volunteered? Please post suggestions!

Love to you all this holiday season!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful day! The Ives came up and the Meinerts walked over. It was so fun to have a couple of full tables.

A little bit late, way too much food was served. Lucy whispered our grace, and we forgot to recite what we were thankful for. But we all know we're thankful for friends and food and family and safe homes.

The kids played, for the most part, well together. Katie practiced her cartwheels. Zach played the Star Wars theme a few hundred times. Quinn and Tommy and Gracie played some computer games. Olivia buzzed around like a little bee. Lucy was a super trooper.

Oh yeah, and later the booze came out. And the pictures of Sarah Palin. And the wedding video...gosh, then it was about time to send people home before we really got rowdy.

Pics: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=4ntipq5.700ub115&x=0&y=-3ca8b3&localeid=en_US

Thanksiving Prep, Real Time

Running Log of Questions for Mom
- Can you please send the recipe for Barb's Butterhorns?
- What's the next step in the roll recipe, after letting dough rise?
- When you make pecan pie, are the pecans on top in addition to the ones the recipe calls for?
-


Menu
* Turkey
* Stuffing
* Barb's Butterhorns with Honey Butter
* Cranberry sauce
* Kristen's Root Veggies
* Mashed Potatoes (for Tommy)
* Sweet Potatoes
* Sweet Corn
* Green Bean Casserole (for something green)
* Pecan Pie
* Pumpkin Pie (from Steph)
* Pumpkin Cheesecake (from Carey)
* Vino, Biere (from the Meinerts)
* Sparkling Ciders (from the Ives)
* Egg Nog

Blessing

MAY THE SUN bring you new energy by day,
MAY THE MOON restore you by night.
MAY THE RAIN wash away your worries,
MAY THE BREEZE blow new strength into your being.
MAY YOU WALK gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.
-Apache Blessing

Say Thanks

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com , you can pick out a thank you card and message (or compose your own personal message) and Xerox will send to our troops serving around the world. It is FREE and only takes a minute or two!

Der's a Ploblem

This afternoon:

Zach, from the yard: Uh, Mom. I neeeeeed you.
Kjirsten, in the kitchen: Okay. Just a minute.
Z: Der's a ploblem out here.
K: Okay. What's going on?
Z: Der's a little rat in my playground.
K: What?! Okay. I'll be right there. (grabbing a bag and rushing outside)
Sure enough, there was a little mouse in the woodchips under the slide.
K: Yep. That's a little mouse. (scooping up the mouse, which, thankfully, wasn't extremely mutilated.)
Z: Yep. I sink he's not moving.
K: Yeah, he's dead, honey. I think Patches (our outdoor adopt-a-cat) got him.
Z: Yeah. Cats like to chase mouses, right?
K: Uh huh.
Z: Well, dat's kinda sad because where's his family? I sink day miss him. Der might need to go to dah hospital.
K: (thinking time for a subject change) Thanks for letting me know about this, Zach. Let's go get ready to go inside now, okay?
Z: Okay.

Zachisms

A few I wrote down from this afternoon:

To Olivia:
You’re da liddle train. And I’m da fastest diesew engine ever.
zooms off across the room

In reference to who knows what:
Hey Joe, whaddaya know? Hey, Joe! Whaddaya know?

About the bird outside our front door:
Oh, der flying west because it’s ohmost gonna be winter. It’s ahready winter at Grandma Marty’s house.

If only I had a better memory, or a constantly recording mini-recorder.

The "Pro"

The Pro of dumping the cake on the deck after letting it cool out there is that you can just scoop up the pieces, heap them into a pie pan, and pour the icing on top anyway. The icing seeps into the cracks in the cake, and you get icing with a little bit of cake.


It seems to have disappeared, despite its "ruttiness." Maybe we're onto something: Deck Cake, featuring little bits and pieces from whatever's been tracked in from the grass. That's what fiber is, right?

In the Fruit Bowl

Of course that's where I found my key, after a morning and afternoon of searching.

If not out of Civic Duty,

...then for a FREE cup of Starbucks coffee (or donut, or something else), but for goodness' sake, please just

GET OUT & VOTE!

How Do They Learn this Stuff?

Flash back with me to January of 2008.

That's only 10ish months ago, right? Wow, has a lot changed since then.

I opened my My Pictures folder, and found this little mug muggin' at me. Really, who teaches these kids that this is a "smile?" Somehow they learn because, not even just when it's mine, whenever a camera comes out, our kids bring out the crinkle-your-nose-squint-your-eyes-bare-your-teeth-almost-puppy-like smile. It's often accompanied by a sound that's presumably a version of "Cheeeeeeeese" but without the "ch" and the "s." So basically, "Eeeeeeee."

I'll dig up some of Zach's cheesing, but for now, here are a few of Olivia in January, at almost 11 months. Please excuse the terrible linoleum and especially the flakes of whatever she's scooting over. Maybe it was just something on the camera lens. Let's go with that.

"Eeeeeeee"

Check out those CHOPPERS.

"The view down here's the cat's meow, almost literally, if that were possible!"

Most Dangerous Chocolate Cake

I haven't tried this, but I'm up for a challenge! I'll post again once I've taken the plunge.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Most Dangerous Chocolate Cake in the World
(serves 1-2)

1 coffee mug
4 Tablespoons plain flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
3 Tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well with a fork.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and continue to mix well.
Add the chocolate chips and vanilla and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake might rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

ENJOY!

P.S. If you try this before I do, let me know what you think!

10/22: Turn Off Your Cell

I didn't read this in time to turn it off for the duration of the boycott, but it's off now.

Big Girl Bed!

At almost 20 mos., Olivia began climbing INTO her crib, so we decided, we'd better pull the front barrier off and make it a big-girl bed before she decided to climb OUT.

These pics were taken her first night in her "new" bed.

She had a rough time at naptime, earlier in the day. She cried and climbed out, and pulled the wipes out of the container, and moved the garbage behind the rocker and unloaded the blanket drawer and cried and played with the monitor, and cried. And, finally, after several visits and an extra lullaby, she fell asleep.

At bedtime, she cried a bit, and climbed out of bed a bit, but she did fall asleep much quicker, probably also due to the short nap earlier.

Big Girl! Sweetly sleeping.

No front barrier to keep her confined!
"Woudja stop with the flash, Mom?"

Also, last night - 10/19/08 - she successfully used the toilet for the first time, for both functions! BIG girl. I wish that meant we were going to be done with diapers, but I am a realist, and we came home from the store with another box. But we're getting closer. Yay!

(I didn't provide pics of this milestone. Sorry.)