Happy Birthday E!!!



Hope you have a fun day!

Happy Independence Day!

We're having fun the old-fashioned American way- a BBQ followed by a baseball game: the Portland Beavers verses the Tacoma Rainiers! Go Beavers! We'll have dessert at the baseball game- the rainbow shaved ice are calling out to the boys and the freeze-dried [or whatever it is] ice cream is calling out to me... After the game they do a fireshow there and I am sure we'll be able to catch some glimpse of the fireshow over the river if the tall buildings aren't too much in our way... I'll have to get a disposal camera to capture this.

Have a merry American Holiday!

Ack I forgot to post my Menu Monday

Well I'll just backtrack to catch you up and then tell you my secret future plans:

Sunday June 29: Fish Tacos using Sole locally caught and bought at the Farmer's Market with cilantro and lime coleslaw. I have never been a big fan of Sole- thought I didn't like the texture or taste but it must have been how it was cooked and what sauce it had because this sole was out of this world! I had Dan touch the cold, slimy fish (evil laugh) after I cut it into one inch pieces- first he rubbed some Mandarin Orange Pepper Jelly which I get from our local and fabulous Rose City Pepperheads of which we are seriously addicted to then lightly breaded with panko and my favorite spice: Trader Joe's 21 Salute Seasoning [has no added salt] then cooked in a pan using tiny bit of olive oil. Yummy!

Monday June 30: From Gartner's Meat Market we got Italian Stuffed Pork Tenderloins which I seared then baked with homemade italian sauce. Pour that over some fresh pasta and voila- the family thinks I am a genius. Such adoring fans...

Tuesday July 1: Leftovers- Dan had Pork Tenderloin Pasta, I had fish with coleslaw, and the kids had fresh pasta, cooked vegetables, and pesto sauce with some slices of summer sausage.

Wednesday- Today: Sandwiches. Turkey deli meat from Gartner's, bacon fried up, lettuce, sprouts, and their favorite condiment on bread slices. [Also making a quiche for breakfast]

Thursday- July 3rd: Simple is good with seasoned chicken breast, rice, and a salad.

Friday- Holiday!: We are having a BBQ over at some friends' house- we are bringing the buffalo patties from Gartner's, watermelon, and coleslaw!

Quote

A happy childhood is one of the best gifts that parents have in their power to bestow.

-Mary Cholmondeley

My Inner Geek is very happy!

My two most favorite movies from when I was a young girl were: Disney's Sleeping Beauty and Red Sonja [that fantastic 1985 classic B movie click here to see the trailer on You Tube]. I LOVE Red Sonja. I haven't watch the movie in years but I have red the comics that feature her which means my Inner Geek is growing up right... So moving on to fantastic news: Red Sonja is being made into a movie slated for 2010 release!!!!
So exciting right... [Well I am excited]
Here are two online articles about the upcoming movie that has Rose McGowan playing the lead woman-warrior:

http://www.dynamiteentertainment.com/htmlfiles/

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b144622_rose_mcgowan_wield_red_sonjas_sword.html

Hmmm I probably should expose my kids to this wonderful childhood movie of mine and see what they think. They both like superheroes- especially Cyrus.
I really hope the new version rocks and appeals to my more grown-up Geekiness!

Quotes

I am reading a biography on Eleanor Roosevelt and the woman has some great quotes so I thought I would share a few with you:

Weekly Menu

The boys and I have VBS [Vacation Bible School Camp] this week and Dan gone during the week I am doing the KISS plan for meals- Keep It Simple Silly

Monday: I bought a LOT of strawberries at the Farmer's Market- our growing season is about a month behind and so we just got them in for the seasons and man oh man are they good. So I may have bought too many so tonight is homemade waffles, with homemade strawberry compote, and a touch of whipped cream on top- I may be the coolest mom tonight...

Tuesday: Since yesterday was fruit- tonight is a vegetable soup. Thinking of making scones for dessert.

Wednesday: Salads are wonderful on warmer days which we are having this week. Grilled chicken on a bed of lettuce! On the side will be crackers with spreadable Fromage Cheese with garlic and chives!

Thursday: Noodles with red sauce... I made Spaghetti Bolognese not too long ago on a weekend day and it was a big hit with the family. Bolognese sauce is great because I was able to cut up small chunks of carrots and celery for added nurition. I will probably replace the more popular ground beef/veal/pork with ground turkey.

Friday: Salmon with a mustard and spices spread on it, rice, and a salad.

Rumors are confirmed to be true

Dan had drill this weekend after a couple of months of very strong rumors of another deployment- it has been confirmed. He will be leaving April 5th 2009 for training that will be for 100 days before being deployed overseas for one year. He'll be going back to Iraq so he going to work in some Arabic classes as a refresher and to build on what he knows before he goes. Hopefully his job will work around the Arabic classes which we believe that will happen.
I really like having this advance notice- last time we had 3 months to prepare for him being gone. It'll be harder on the boys now that they are older and more aware.

Gas prices go up and are you driving less?

It took us two weeks ago to finally hit $4.00 a gallon. Now we are at $4.35/gal!!! *gasps*
I drive an average of 500 miles a month and my gas bill is about $150-160 a month which is double Dan's gas bill although he is only driving approx 475 miles a month. I have already cut down some of my driving to get to the 500 miles.
I know when Dan is working close to home June 30th to July 3rd- he'll be taking the bus to work and I'll use his car on the days that I am not babysitting. We will work out a schedule of trying just to use his car when his done with his job training and is back to work in our city.
According to this article: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080619165426.g1xpji51&show_article=1 more Americans are driving less. An interesting statistics read:

But beginning in 2004, the number of miles Americans put in on the roads annually began falling between 100 and 300 million miles.

And this year, the fall accelerated sharply on a yearly comparison to 4.4 billion miles.

I know when it came time for me to find a preschool for Solomon, distance to the school from home was a huge factor and thankfully the preschool of our dreams was 1.88 miles away from home. Now Cyrus will be going there next year. I always figure since I drive a SUV that I should be responsible about the number of miles that I drive because it is not an economical car. I would love to drive a more economical car but I just can't figure in the car payment and higher insurance costs to justify it.
I am planning to use the bus more often. Drive Dan's more economical car more often. Making sure that I combine errands for one trip. Any other tips?