Food

I like food. I like shopping for food. I like feeding my family and friends. I'd do it all the time if I didn't have to worry about making a living or any nonsense like that.

We hosted Easter this past weekend and experimented with a few new recipes. Success! I think I have a couple new "regular" dishes.

It's not hard. Cooking, I mean. It's the one thing in life that is very easy NOT to fall into a rut for me. And with more of a focus on organic and ingredients and evolving what we eat to even healthier than what we do now.

We have one rule about eating in this house. You have to try it. My kids are good about it. I'm not sure if that's because they are wired that way, or whether it's because both Chris and I are good examples, or whether my food is actually tasty. But for the most part, they comply. Okay, O does, regularly.

I wonder. I wonder if there is a place for someone who is NOT a trained cook or chef to have a point of view on how kids eat. How families eat. Would people care? Will I be talking to myself? Hmmm.

Easter...Bunny?

Today was Easter, and we host our family (families) each year. The crowd changes for a variety of reasons, mostly for the my family/your family rotation that just about any married couple deals with in some form or fashion - we were happy to have friends join us as well this year.

Tried some new recipes. Went with a Tyler Florence recipe for pulled pork in the oven, and I have to say...holy cow, I am making THIS again! Pulled pork, fantabulous. And the ham was good. And my MIL's lasagna. And my mom's rice pie for dessert. And like twenty other things. We have enough for for the week, I think!

O woke up CRAZY early today...this is the kid we need to drag out of bed every school day, and sleeps past 9 on the weekends quite frequently - yes, a bit odd for a 5 3/4-year old - wanders in our room at 6:45! Ugghhh. If he wasn't so cute. Really.

I always take a family photo on Easter. (Okay, this is the second year in a row. But it is a new "tradition".) Unfortunately I didn't get around to it until after my children had chocolate cake. You can see the residual damage on O. Lesson learned.

And yes, I am a super-dork and make us all coordinate. Note I said coordinate...and not "match". Very different. This retains some modicum of self-respect. Loved G's dress. Let me squish those almost-not-baby-limbs of hers. Yum.

I know. I am still working on post frequency - I'll rally!

My Own Little Droid

Everyone who knows me well knows that I am a Mac user, an Apple fangirl at heart. Since my early agency days when I was plopped on a blue iMac, and then a black Macbook, I fell in love. The side of me that loves all aesthetic nuances and ease of use just becomes happy. I'm writing on a MacBook now - the smallest, in white.

On the mobile side, I've had iPhone envy for some time. But if you know me well, you know I also have a pretty feisty practical side. My husband has a corporate discount with Verizon at work, and since we have our two phones, one for our nanny, and one for my mom...and Verizon actually does have better coverage in our area...I just haven't been sold on making the iPhone switch. It would mean switching us all over at the same time. So, I got a Blackberry when I started freelancing. Make that FIVE phones, since I didn't want to drop my old mobile # yet.

Well, a week and a half ago, I made the jump (after talking about it forever). I got a Droid. I lovvvvvvve it. It's very easy to use. It's not so thin and sexy as it's Apple nemesis, but coming off a Blackberry Curve, it feels like I advanced a decade. I've forwarded the old mobile number, so we're down to four phones again (well, physically, anyhow). It's got the slide-out keyboard but I find the touch screen simpler. I have small hands.

I haven't changed the alert yet. It sounds like I have a small Stars Wars character with me at all times. The kids get a kick out of it. So do I. "Droid" makes me giggle a little, still. I put a purple case on it so it looks at least a little more girly. Photos are great, apps, mail accounts easier than the Blackberry - must have something to do with that Google thing.

Next, Google Voice! I'm aiming to chop at least one more phone line off my bills. Will keep you posted on that adventure - so far I've assigned it to the wrong gmail account. Don't ask.

I love No Junk Food Week

If you've read this in the past, I've mentioned a few times that I love food. Cooking it, eating it, finding new ways to play with it, trying new things out on the family.

I have progressively been getting more green and eco-conscious about my food. I only buy organic meats now that I am certain have no hormones etc, have started buying bulk to omit all the packaging, and am trying out all sorts of new leafy green veggies on the family. More vegetarian meals in the mix. With good results all around! I've also figured out how to shop in Whole Foods without it costing a stinkin' fortune. It's do-able.

(On a side note...if you have not seen Food, Inc. - you should. I think it should be required for all Americans, like requiring people to also work either in retail or food service/hospitality in their teen years so they learn how to treat people properly.)

To borrow a phrase from one of my clients, everyone is on a different place in their journey toward being aware of how they eat and what they eat, and how what they do in this area affects the environment.

So, needless to say, I was thrilled to see O come home with a No Junk Food Week flier from school, and a "contract" that he has to fill out this week with a healthy snack a day. Sweeeet.

So far we've got guacamole for yesterday (yes, I helped him spell that one) and today he wrote down cheese for his morning snack he brought to school. I wonder if this is stressing anyone else out...we are lucky that we both grew up on "real food" so we try to take it a step further in our house. It's a journey.

Last week they all were asked to bring in empty cereal boxes - so I gave him one of the worst we've had in the house - Corn Pops. 12g sugar a serving. (Then they gave them blocks to illustrate exactly what that meant.) One of the highest in the class. So we picked some new cereal this week - completely his choosing, after label-scouring - that had just 7g of sugar in it. Much better.

Can we make it No Junk Food Month?

We have a Swimmer!

Mr. O has been taking swim lessons, as I've mentioned before.
I had started to have a little angst that my 5-year-old was not swimming yet. This past November (during the blog hiatus) in Aruba, we got both he and G the Konfidence vests - which I have to say, were stellar. Kept them upright, actually got them comfortable in the water. I think it made a huge difference when it was time for lessons.

Now G wants to jump in the water too!

We took this last week.




We are so proud.
So is he!

The Something Good Parts

Let's just gloss over the week, mini-recap includes interesting flux with clients, income, blah, blah, blah. Nothing overwhelmingly terrible by any means. Whatever.

And for some reason I've gotten all sorts of scraps from social media in the last 24 hours from folks I know who CAN'T WAIT for this week to end. Really. Ya know...don't rush it. I'm going to guess that something good happened this week. You wouldn't have wanted to miss it, right?

My week ended on a wonderful note, actually, if I focus on my morning - a really awesome "something good". For the second time this school year, I went in to read to O's kindergarten class. Our selections: The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, and Clam-I-Am - a Seussian approach to learning about the beach and all its associated creatures. Clam-I-Am was all fun and good, but I was pretty pumped in my newly reinvigorated green-ness to read The Lorax.

I love some of the connections the kids make, what goes through their heads, what they raise their hands to share.

"I have trees that fell down in my yard from the snow." Well, yes, but maybe some of those trees were old and that happens sometimes. But you didn't cut them down yourself, right?

"I like Paris." Really, have you been to Paris? It's very nice there. "No, but I am going when I am 12.". Good planning. Send pictures!

"I saw a dead bird once." (Mmmm....okay. Can't say I was prepared with a reaction for someone else's child to discuss death.)

Amidst all the sidebars, they all seemed to engage, to get the lesson that "UNLESS someone like you...cares a whole awful lot....nothing is going to get better...it's not." Tonight it occurred to me it would have been stellar to bring some seeds for everyone. So...maybe that's an idea for another time, it's not like they could have gotten planted today anyhow.

Enjoy your truffula trees today, everyone.

The G2 Summit

G has turned 2! I know, she was barely walking the last time I told you about what was up with her. She is a bit of a mini-me, which is reinforced by at least one or two people weekly, and she has personality to spare. Demanding, silly, lovable little tiny girl. "Tiny" is one of her favorite words...she always raises her voice when she says it: "TI-nee!"

We had a family birthday party this past weekend. A Dora extravaganza. Please, por favor.

She was the star of her own show, looking lovely in purple and brown and a very, very special crown that was handmade by her older brother and held in place by a rhinestone headband (thank you, Crewcuts).

And now...introducing new technological leaps to LMWL...flip video! (Drumroll)

A fantabulous cake, with Dora and Boots on top. She is still at that age where all the hullabaloo over candles on a cake looks a little nutty from her perspective, I believe. Did not want to blow them out. Our big girl.



See, at least I have evolved in the last 9 months. Multimedia!