One Day Left...

Tomorrow sometime after 7:30pm and by 9:30pm Dan will be home on leave, my father in law, and my dad with my brother should all be here. I'll be the only girl. Wish me the best.
We'll be celebrating Dan's short break with us and Cyrus's birthday. My father in law will be taking pictures which I will share... My dad and brother will be helping us with some projects around the house. Dan will be relaxing- he is currently sick from a complete lack of sleep so hopefully he gets better while home- and hanging out with family.

I am excited...

Now I need to go vacuum.

Found this great quote on this blog:

If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden, or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi desert. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator. — W. Beran Wolfe

I find this to be true for my husband and for our boys...

Monday Menu Plan

Yesterday we had Black Bean Soup with Shrimp Scampi on top- very yummy.

Monday: Shrimp and veggie stir fry with brown rice

Tuesday: Beets with Greens Borscht [we ended up having leftovers instead of making this Saturday]

Wednesday: Leftover Borscht soup

Thursday: Chicken Noodle Soup with Zucchini in it...

Friday: Flank Steak with mushroom sauce on top, salad, and baked Sweet Potato Fries. Apple Pie for dessert.

Saturday: Happy 5th Birthday to Cyrus! Pizza and ice cream cake from Cold Stone!

Sunday: Hamburgers, salad, baked beans, and some other veggie.

For more menu planning ideas, go over to Org Junkie!

Long overdue haircut at the Barber's [of course Solomon requested the "Army Haircut" aka High and Tight.


Let Mom take a picture to document new haircut and the pretty day in one shot.


Solomon seems to be saying "Mom I am too cool for you to take this many photos..."

I can't help it- they are so cute!

Menu Plan

I mentioned last week that we are trying out a diet of no dairy. I have been having some stomach issues that may be related to cheese- dairy and I have always wondered how Solomon's skin sensitivity and [mild] asthma would fare if there was no dairy in his diet. Dairy is probably the number one allergy.

Monday: Anniversary Sushi dinner with Solomon and Cyrus

Tuesday: It was sunny and warm today making me crave a salad so I made Pan-cooked chicken breasts in Oregano, Cumin, and Garlic over green salad with garbanzo beans, and roasted red-bellpeppers. The dressing was a simple salsa mixed in with a little olive oil. Even Cyrus is eating this [Whoo hoo!]

Wednesday: I found this Vietnamese Inspired BBQ Pork Salad recipe that I want to try. I probably will use beef instead and not as much as the recipe calls for.

Thursday: Moo Ping: Skewered Marinated Pork With Lemon Sauce [with beef or chicken instead of Pork] with a Carrot, Orange & Mint Salad

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Beets with Green Borscht with bread

Sunday: Thai Crab Salad or Shrimp Scampi Pasta served with sauteed greens.

I found that Asian recipes were often dairy free which is how most of my menu ideas came about.

420

Today is our 7th Wedding Anniversary!

Us, May 2005

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Love you Dan...

Living Lovely

Milestones.... How do we celebrate milestones such as acheivements, birthdays, graduations and well milestones? That was the question posted by Mt. Hope Chronicles in the latest of the Living Lovely With Family series:

Birthdays: We live away from family but it has happen with great frequency that someone [family and or friend] comes to visits around/during one of the boys' birthdays.
Here is a special birthday occasion:

This was during Dan's first deployment and he came home for his two week leave and we celebrated Cyrus's first birthday.
And because 1st birthdays are so cute:

Solomon has yet to have a birthday party because it is around Labor Day and many of his friends are away vacationing one last time or super busy getting ready for school so we'll be doing something extra special for his birthday in lieu of a birthday party. I am halfway tempted to give a kid party one last shot for mid-September this coming year... So we usually celebrate both of their birthdays with just family.

Acheivements: Dan puts his acheivements on the fridge and for other less tangible acheivements we celebrate with nice homemade dinner or we go out. Praise and high fives seem to work well for the boys. My acheivements are usually an end result of something: making dinner, making or doing something, etcera so usually I get the "I love yous" and "Thank yous" which works for me since I am thankfully not working in a 9-5 job with a boss and that rocks. My greatest acheivements are my marriage to Dan and our two boys which I get to enjoy everyday...

Graduations: So far we have only celebrated Solomon's graduation from Preschool. It was a lovely affair of pining homemade butterfly wings so that the kids could soar in the upcoming year and cake/ice cream. Dan is still only 3 classes shy of his college degree and I'll let you know what we do when that is finally done! Graduations from diapers to being potty trained was a nice stash of cool underwear- Batman, Superheroes, Transformers, Sharks, etc

Cyrus believes that everything should be celebrated with ice cream which is why an ice cream maker is on his birthday wishlist and then cake or cupcakes but we usually mark the milestones with words of love and affection...

"You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime."
Dale Carnegie

Monday Menu Plan

My favorite recipe from last week was the Split Pea Soup. My mom doesn't like peas so I didn't eat it very much growing up and most ham and split pea soups are too salty for me so it was absolutely delightful when I tried this version. I use Organic Chicken Base Better Than Bouillon which is absolutely the greatest way to make stock. I put in more carrots and added garlic to my version simply because I have a lot on hand.

Monday: I got Lobster Tail on sale instead of lamb and never made an Easter dinner- we had a large lunch or rather Linner that we didn't want to eat a dinner on top of all the food we ate during the day yesterday so tonight it is Lobster Tail, rice, asparagus, and salad.

Tuesday: Grilled Chicken over green salad for lunch. Carrot Soup for dinner with some bread.

Wednesday: Happy Tax Day! Deviled Eggs, salad, and leftover carrot soup for lunch. Cuban Black beans, Pineapple Salsa [recipe at end of post], and possibly Grandma's Rice all wrapped up in a tortilla.

Thursday: Kids' pick for lunch. Using the leftover beans in a Tortilla Soup for dinner with cornbread.

Friday: Leftover soup for lunch. Pasta with Carrots, Risotto Style with salad. Tonight's dinner will be the last dairy we'll have for a month so we can see if we do and feel better without it.

Saturday: For dinner we'll have Smoked Salmon over green salad and a cup of Lentil Soup.

Sunday: Out for lunch. Shrimp and veggie stir fry.


Pineapple Salsa Recipe:

1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
Reserved pineapple juice
1 small red or green bell pepper, diced
3 medium green onions, thinly sliced
1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tbsp agave nectar (can substitute honey, molasses or sugar), to taste

Mix all ingredients, including reserved pineapple juices, in medium bowl. Cover and let stand at least one hour at room temperature. Serve. Recipe courtesy of friend Cheryl.

For more menu planning ideas head over to Org Junkie!

Happy Easter

Special thanks to L- and her family for having us over for Easter! We had a lot of fun and it really helped spending the first holiday with Dan gone with some friends.

Gardening...

We have had a couple of nice sunny days- just perfect for getting our gardening and landscaping started.

I took out the ugly bushes in front with the boys and Dan's brute strength with a pick ax and planted three blueberry bushes. EarlyBlue, Bluecrop, and Chandler Bluberry and in that order is when they ripen over the summer so I can have blueberries all summer long.
Planted a Red and Golden Raspberry roots.
Some strawberry roots in a couple of pots.

In our adventures of digging in the dirt- we made some friends with worms. Check out the biggest one I have ever seen!













Here is our new red-hot lawn mower with Dan test driving it for the first time. Behind him you can see our blueberry "bushes" under the window:

Living Lovely

Heidi from Mt. Hope Chronicles is featuring the theme Vacation this week with the series Living Lovely With Family.

Growing up, I had amazing experiences travelling for vacations. My grandparents owned a motorhome and took my brother and I a couple of times. 1990 and 1995 we teavelled several states and saw many campgrounds and touristy sites such as a show in Branson, 4 corners, and going into caves to participate in a family reunion [my grandmother's side of the family] that started on a farm in Wisconsin and then ended up at a lake in Michigian. It was incredible just to see the United States and I can't wait to show some of the states to my boys. We have started to make a list of things to see or do in various states such as sapphire mining in Montana.

I am taking the boys to their first family reunion this June in California and spending time in San Luis Obispo, California with my Dad and Brother as well as my Mom and Grandma in San Diego, California. I am very lucky that my family lives in southern California which is such a lovely place to visit weather and scenic wise and to have it affordable since we stay with family is just fabulous. The boys and I will leave Oregon June 8th and come home July 1st so we'll have plenty of time with family and being tourists.

We went to Disneyland every year with my Grandma from the time I was 5 until I was 9 years old- my three most favorite things are caves on the little island, Matterhorn ride, and Sleeping Beauty's Castle and now my mom wants to participate with the boys and I so hopefully in next two years we can make it happen.

My Dad took us camping a couple of times and even took his grandsons [I was there too] on their first camping trip when well now I can't exactly remember but I don't think Cyrus was walking yet so before he was 16 months old and my Dad bought a trailer that we tried out at a camping spot just north of Morro Bay. Grandpa again took us camping out at Ft. Stevens which is an awesome place that we'll visit again just south of Astoria, Oregon. Then following year we took a camping trip east of Oregon in Welches, Oregon. Solomon loves Volcanoes so I'll be working on building our camping supplies so we can camp and visit Mt. Helens.

Dan took us out to visit Multnomah Falls area for a family hike and we loved it that we'll be continuing that. We moved from being close to downtown Portland to being on the East side so now we're closer to Mt. Hood and we hope to make ski trips in our future. There is so much around us in the Portland area to explore and we're having fun doing it.

One of our special dates that we had while dating was at a Mariner's Baseball game in Seattle and we hope to take a train trip [I love to travel by train] up to Seattle with the boys to take in Seattle and a baseball game. For now we'll root for the Portland Beavers.

We occasionally have to go to Ft. Lewis, WA for Dan to get some supplies and we make a day or two trip out of it- there is a museum and all kinds of military vehicles to see when on post that makes it very exciting for everyone.

The beach is always a great place to visit whether we're in California, Oregon or Washington. I love to rent a house on the beach with some extended family members and enjoy a week together one summer.

One of my favorite trips was to Monterey Bay Aquarium and I love to go back when the boys are older so we can enjoy the Steinbeck aspects of the area in addition to the Aquarium.

Dan and I want to take the boys to Crater Lake and Mt.Shasta- the boys haven't been to Carter Lake and it has been years for me.

Beyond the United States we would love to take a family trip to: England and Ireland; Germany; Greece; Egypt; and Jordan for starters.

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Solomon had very loose teeth at the beginning of Spring Break which is why he is eating the cookie without applying pressure to the top front teeth then he lost one at the coffee house while we were playing battleship then he lost the last one during lunch. His "big teeth" are dropping in fast so this lovely gaping holes and singing songs of "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" are being shortlived.

Catch your nap wherever and whenever you can...

Monday Menu Plan

Last week's burgers were a hit!
Check out the Bacon, Carmelized Onions, and Portabello Mushroom Burger with sweet potato baked fries! They were all delicious!
Another dish that was popular was the Chicken with the Honey-Orange sauce which sounded like Chinese but isn't. It was discovered in April 2009's issue of Eating Well Magazine which I love and currently offering a year's subscription for the low price of $10 [Ten little dollars].

This week:

Monday: Blue Cheese-Bacon Burgers, Sweet Potato Baked Fries, and Coleslaw. I will be making a Quiche for tomorrow's brekfast.

Tuesday: Picked up Pizza

Wednesday: For dinner it is back to the good basics: Portabello-Buffalo Burgers, Aspargus, and Onion Strings This will be Dan's last night with us.

Thursday: Split Pea Soup with bread. Something about Spring has me thinking pea soup.

Friday: Asian Burgers again- I think these were the boys' favorite if they had to choose with Carrot & Apple Salad in a Yogurt, Mint, and Honey Dressing

Saturday: Waffles for breakfast then a trip to the Farmer's Market and grabbing lunch there and for dinner I am thinking a Potato, Kale, and Carmelized Onion Friatta

Sunday: Happy Easter! We'll be eating out for lunch although I should figure out where soon and make reservations! Dinner will be Deviled Eggs, Lamb Kabobs, veggies with hummus, and flat bread.


For more menu planning ideas please visit Organizing Junkie!

Cleaning Schedule

My cleaning schedule is extactly what my readers need to read about to keep coming back to my blog! So enjoy!

When we moved- we doubled the square footage which meant that I needed to come up with a new doable cleaning plan.

I do at least a load of laundry each day, clean a toilet bowl each day along with the sink, do a load of dishwasher just about every day [all that cooking from scratch adds up to a lot of dishes], wipe down the kitchen counters each day, and wipe down dining table each day [kids have taken this responsibility over]...

Sunday: Vacuum the downstairs.

Monday: I deep clean my kitchen- the stovetop, either the fridge or the oven, wipe down the front of my cupboards, wipe up the inside and outside of the microwave, sweep and mop both the kitchen and bathrooms [since I already have the mop out I might as well do it all].

Tuesday: Clean all 3 bathrooms- clean three mirrors, one bathtub, one shower, wipe down the walls, restock supplies in each bathroom, and launder the towels.

Wednesday: Clean, de-clutter, reorganize and dust the family room, entry way and dining room. Vacuum downstairs [includes office room].

Thursday: Reorganize/de-clutter office while the boys work on the playroom. Dust both rooms.

Friday: Bedroom clean-up. The boys clean up, dust, re-organize as needed, and I vacuum their room. I also clean-up, reorganize as needed, dust and vacuum the master bedroom. Vacuum the rest of the upstairs. Launder the sheets.

Saturday: Pick a project.

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.


-- Bumper sticker

Living Lovely

Mt. Hope Chronicles has another installment in the "Living Lovely With Family" series and this week, it focus on Yearly Traditions!

So in a year month by month:

April: Our wedding anniversary is on the 20th and this year will be our 7th year and we have only been able to be together on this day twice so while we enjoy the fact that our marriage is "aging" we haven't always been able to celebrate especially on the day. We would have had more lucky celebrating on the day I wanted to marry- April 1st but Dan wasn't ready yet. This year the boys will go with me to a Beavers Baseball game- Portland's minor league baseball team.
We're starting our first garden here at home.
We are buying a grill so in the future we'll have our "First BBQ of the Season" to look forward.
This year Easter is in April- I usually take the boys to an Easter Egg Hunt somewhere else so I don't do them at home. In addition to a basket that they always get- I will be making a "Treasure Map" for them to find it this year.

May: Cyrus's birthday is May 2nd and well kid birthdays are fun. We'll be doing a BBQ that should be loads of fun.
Mother's Day- I have admit I make it fun for me and I work with the boys into making things for me. Dan usually gets me a card- usually a funny one. He'll be missing it this year so I am making him a "Guilty and should buy my wife and mother of my children some lovely things" Wish-list.
Hopefully our first campout happens in some lovely weather in May.

June: Officially launches summertime and berry pickin'!
This year there is a special Birthday party/Family Reunion happening that I hope to attend with the boys.

July: Last year we went to the Beavers Baseball game on the 4th of July which was awesome! You get a baseball game which is pretty much the ultimate American experience you can get with a fireshow afterwards. I am hoping to do the same this Fourth of July.

August: For years August meant Fairgrounds and we'll be trying a new one this year at home or visiting the one back in my hometown as we travel for a friend's wedding just around fair time!

September: September 1st is Solomon's Birthday and usually around or on Labor Day which is not a good time to have a birthday party with friends as everyone is either getting ready for school or away on their last summer vacation. We have fun anyways.
Dan's Birthday is in September [26th] and this year will be turning 30!
Apple season. I love apples.

October: Going to a Pumpkin Patch- the first pumpkin is for homemade pumpkin pie and the others are for decorations.
We love dress up and always make or get a costume and usually attend a Halloween/Harvest Party but yet to try trick-or-treating as I don't want that much candy at home. I will have the boys help me make homemade goodies this year as I have a homemade Reese cup recipe that I want to try.

November: My favorite holiday- Thanksgiving because it is about the food and giving/being thankful all wrapped into one. I am hoping that with Cyrus being 5 years old this year- we'll be able to participate at serving Thanksgiving meals to someone else or boxing up food to help families this holiday.
Day of the Dead we celebrate with Pumpkin Soup.
The countdown for snow begins for the boys.
Day after Thanksgiving we cut down our tree and start decorating for Christmas season.

December: If no snow on the ground- we go to it and sled. Want to do a family snowboarding weekend next year with Dan.
We'll participate in St Lucia Day this year.
I want to really start making Christmas gifts and ornaments with the boys this year so that is goal of ours and if it goes well then I can foresee and lovely tradition for the years to come.
Favorite Christmas Eve meal of sausage, sauerkraut, potato pancakes, and applesauce. Prime Rib Roast for Christmas Day.
My birthday is on the 10th. I like to have tea at the Heathman Hotel and Sushi for my birthday dinner this year and to do anything I want.
I hope to participate in two yearly events in Portland area: The Nutcracker Ballet and the Polar Express Train ride out in Mt Hood.

January: We ring in the New Year at Noon rather than Midnight and our meal is consisted of appetizers which is a lot of fun to make and eat.

February: The boys really got into Valentine's Day so I'll be making a bigger deal of it next year.

March: Dr Seuss’s Birthday is celebrated with Dr Seuss stories and green foods.
Breaking ground for the garden- getting seeds and plans ready for the planting season.

All year-long for family members' birthdays that we don't live near to help celebrate- I usually make a treat for us to celebrate here at home which is pretty much everyone's.

Thanks for bearing with me reading such a long post!

Helping Papa pack his gear or rather playing with it...

Who is it?



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Cyrus the Army Kid: