What's in your treasure chest Matey?

The other day, we were eating lunch and the very bored Cyrus decides to roll up his napkin and declares it to be a treasure map. Of course the treasure map leads to a treasure chest.

I thought to myself What would this boy value? and so I asked...

"Cyrus what would you find in the treasure chest?"

He promptly replied, "Ice Cream and Chocolate!"

I think it is safe to say that an Ice Cream Maker would top his Christmas Wish List!

Solomon chimed in after the parents' laughter started to die off that he would find toys in his treasure chest.

As for D and Me? Nothing like money in a treasure chest to make us happy.

Birthday Pictures!

It ended up being quite the Star Wars themed birthday with Dan going overboard with Star Wars figures [Cyrus picked out some of those], Star Wars Legos, and the latest Star Wars Lego Game for Xbox. Mimi got Solomon some really cool Star Wars shirts and long-sleeved plain color shirts to under under the t-shirts when it gets colder here. GG got Solomon a totally awesome long sleeve soccer shirt that goes really well with all the soccer gear that Mom/Papa got him for his soccer season this Fall. Solomon is thrilled with his birthday gifts, birthday phone calls, and well wishes for turning 6 years old!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Solomon's 6th Birthday- Happy Birthday!

In turn, Dan and I have been parents for 6 years- I think we're doing pretty good job with the boys.

I am the bomb today

[I'll go back to taking pictures of everything eventually, really living without a camera for a couple of weeks got me out of a really good habit...]

I made two great meals today and I thought I would share a recipe:
For lunch [I was at the Farmer Market for breakfast] we had Buttermilk Waffles- a favorite around here with a raspberry syrup made locally and sold at the Farmer Market [strained raspberries with a little bit of added sugar] and smiley faces made out of whipped cream- can't you tell how much the boys loved me. I was Queen for a day!

Williams-Sonoma provided the orginal recipe:

2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon [I sprinkle in a teaspoon or two of pumpkin pie spice]
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour [I use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, at least 1 Tablespoon each ground flax seed and wheat germ]
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt [I don't add this- butter on top of the waffle is a better source of salt]

Mix it up. Pour indvidual amount of batter on your heated waffle maker and they'll be eaten as soon as they are made.

Then for dinner I made a lasagna. I use Trader Joe's no boil lasagna noodles and they worked out great. I didn't use a recipe and I don't measure anything so I'll just let you know what I put in it:
Tiny bit of olive oil in the heated pan, one large walla walla onion chopped, 3 cloves of garlic minced, decent amount of seasoning [my favorite Trader Joe's 21 Salute All Purpose Seasoning Blend], 2 punds of 99% fat free ground turkey, 9 ounces shredded carrots, and 12 ounces frozen chopped spinach. Layered the noodles with red sauce, little layer of small curds cottage cheese, layered zucchini, and fresh mozzarella with the pan filling. Top with parmesan cheese. I bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes- all estimate since I use my nose for when things are done. Voila- even something Cyrus likes and has been requested on the menu in the future. Lucky for me there is leftovers for tomorrow and extra filling that I added red sauce to save in the freezer for Dan's lunch next week.

FOUND

Dan finally found his camera and I have evidence that the kids are doing well- maybe having too much fun as evident from the pictures at our local amusement park. Although Solomon is getting too cool to show his I-am-totally-excited-smile.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Father-in-Law/Grandpa! Hope your day was nice!

Library Reading Program

So the boys participated in our library's summer reading program. We just turned in our reading log [I kept forgetting to turn it in for 3 weeks] and they each got a free book: Green Wilma [Cyrus's pick]
and Tuesday [Solomon's pick]. They each get a discounted ride bracelet for our almost year round amusement/carnival place that we'll be going to tomorrow! Then a surprise both kids got a free admission ticket for a Trail Blazers game [which if you don't follow sports- is a pro-basketball team based out of Portland and almost the worst team in the league for years] so we're planning on catching a game in November. Who should we see the Blazers play against: New Orleans, Sacremento, or Houston that will also be aired on TNT?

Menu Plan

Sunday: Crab chowder

Monday: Greek pasta salad

Tuesday: Zucchini and ground beef cooked into a red sauce served over pasta.

Wednesday: Fish with an orange sauce, rice, cuncumber slices, and watermelon slices.

Thursday: Potstickers with watermelon slices

Friday: Stir fry [with steak most likely] and rice

For more menu ideas click here

Sabre

Left to Right: Jacobson, Zagunis, and Ward.

Did you catch it? The US Women sweep to capture Gold, Silver and Bronze at the Olympics' Women's Fencing [Sabre] competition! Zagunis who won gold and Ward who won bronze are from my neck of the woods: Beaverton, Oregon.

After months of Solomon asking to learn how to fence, it has come time for him to try it especially when our area has wonderful fencers so I talked to a fellow homeschooler whose son is also taking fencing [possible 2016 Olympics contender] about the local hot spot for fencing so I'll be taking Solomon there to try it out and report back. He was in complete awe of watching the fencing.