1950s style

All growing up I never once attended a themed costume party....in costume that is.  We never went out and paid money for a store bought costume that was just right.  We never had the right stuff at home to fit whatever the theme was.  And I was usually too school for cool...er..cool for school to be caught dead in something that sort of made a lame attempt at fitting the theme, but didn't quite hit the mark.

As a result, I was the equally lame kid who showed up in jeans and a t-shirt who stood around too cool for costumes that weren't quite right, and yet desperate to fit in just once for a themed party.

NOT SO THIS TIME!!!

We got an invitation to William's cousin's birthday party - 1950s themed - and William's all like "let's do this baby, we're doing it!!"

There were usual groans and moans on my part as I tried not to dredge up the bad costume party memories from my childhood, but I told him I'd do my best.

Thankfully I didn't have to rely fully on my best or I still would have been in trouble.  I had two friends ready to help out who let me look through their stuff and loaned me almost the entirety of my wardrobe.  By the end, I felt ready to rock the 1950s and any party that came with it.  

And so, because this might in fact be the only time in my life that I actually attend a themed costume party, IN COSTUME, and look really fabulous doing so, I will now shamelessly post far too many pictures of us in our get up.  I admit to feeling awesomely beautiful that night. :-)  Thanks girls. :-)

Someone asked if I was Jackie O.

Someone said a brunette Marilyn.

Someone said Black Dahlia.  (I had to look that one up.)

I just felt awesome and incognito.

Pretty Lady and Nerdy Scientist.

Nerdy Scientist and his 1950s radio.  (from my Grandmother's shed)

Slide Rule anyone?

He's not overly excited.....

Makes you kind of nervous doesn't he?

Okay, perhaps Mad Scientist is better.

How did the nerd ever get the babe?

Can't forget the scarf and gloves.

Red lipstick and shades.

And the coat and bag.  :)

So there you go.  Our totally awesome 1950s birthday party get up.  Happy Birthday to Nicole and thanks for having a costume party so that I could for once in my life, go in costume and rock it out!  This crunchy mama enjoyed her night of glam!  :-)

Missed that one...

My poor son has a black eye.

He's had one all day.  Since yesterday evening in fact. I didn't want to take him out this morning for errands, but we did anyway.  In spite of my reassuring all of my friends when they have had to take their bumped and bruised children out in public, that everyone knows that little kids fall down and get hurt all the time and therefore are not automatically going to assume abuse, I was in fact, hesitant to do it myself.  Maybe it was just the black eye thing.  I think that looks worse than a bruised leg, but maybe that's just me.


But run errands we did.  The cleaners, Walmart and the grocery store.

We made it back alive with no question of abuse and no one running up to me and grabbing my child to turn them over to social services.  Whew!  


Then began our whiny day.  It escalated after nap time when Charlie was repeating over and over again "heiny owie, heiny owie" with an occasional "eye owie" thrown in there, which I admit I was ignoring due to the fact this his heiny was actually in pretty pristine condition, with no sign of rash or owie anywhere.

Then daddy came home, saw the poor little shiner on Sonny, heard about the whiny day and said "do you have any baby tylenol?  Have you given him anything?  His eye probably really hurts."

Oh.

Duh.

I grew up taking very little medication, and really getting hurt very little.  I guess we'll chock that one up to being a girl.  So why would I ever possibly consider the fact that my son's black eye was actually causing him pain?  Smacks forehead.  I was even at the grocery store and walmart where I could have easily picked something up.  Smacks forehead.


It took Daddy.  Now I'm sitting here feeling terribly guilty as a mother (especially after the ear nicking incident during last weekend's hair cuts), and the only reason I even have time to blog is because Daddy took his little boy out to Kroger to get some baby tylenol.  :-(

Oh yea, how did he get the black eye?  Apparently diving under the piano bench is only fun as long as you manage to actually dive under it, instead of diving into it.  Ouch!

It looks lighter in the pictures than it actually is in person.  Poor little Bubby.  There will be snuggles tonight.  Though whether it will be more for the comfort of my child, or to assuage my mommy guilt, who knows....

The whirlwind trip part 2

Part 2 of Seattle Adventure

The next morning we were back at Jamba Juice so I could start out my day with another healthy smoothie, and this time, I went ahead and got a full shot of wheat grass juice.

This was Christeen, the sweet lady who gave us the wheat grass juice.  They grow it hydroponically, right there in the store, and juice it fresh.  Mmm.

Bottoms up!  (again!)

I couldn't resist. :)

This was lunch for day 2.5.  It was very good, but by far the most unhealthy vegan dishes we had.

It was a cute little corner vegan deli, and while it tasted great, I know that was largely due to the grease I could feel dripping down my hand.  I probably should have stopped eating it, cause my tummy felt a little sloshy afterwards, but I admit to not being perfect.  I generally don't eat greasy foods now - almost never.  But I do admit that this one tasted great, in spite of or because of, the grease.  So I ate it, enjoyed it, and realized I wouldn't eat there again.

That pretty much sums up the food pictures for the trip.  There was one very memorable meal we didn't get pictures of, that took place at a lodge, in the mountains, on an icy night, with a chef who went above and beyond and made a special 5 course vegan meal, just for me.  I totally should have asked the waitress if I could snap a few non-flash pictures anyways, even though cells and cameras were frowned upon.  I've never had such fancy and well crafted food in my life!  It was truly gorgeous to look at and gorgeous to eat (does that even make sense??).

So I realized this trip that my nutritarian sensibilities were somewhat clashing with my vegan sensibilities.  It was all amazing, vegan food.  But I wouldn't say it was all nutritarian food (high nutrient density food) by a long shot.  The last sandwich picture, case in point.  It was vegan, but it was not what I'd call healthy.  It just goes to show you that even vegans can eat unhealthily.  What, you didn't realize that white flour, white pasta and white sugar are all vegan but still really unhealthy whether you consider yourself a carnivore, omnivore or herbivore?

So here are some last pictures of us on the ferry boat ride - the last thing we did before our icy lodge dinner and heading back to the airport.  It was cold by the way.  Freezin' cold.  Thank goodness for my sister's coat and scarf!!

"I have a thing for ferry boats."

I love this man.

 Oh oh, and here is a picture of the gorgeous Snoqualmie Falls, where we had our fancy dinner at Salish Lodge.  We got to the falls right before dusk and I quickly snapped this picture.  You can see the icy bushes in the foreground.  There were signs up everywhere telling us to watch out for the slippery ice.

So the weekend was great and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

I know you are wondering, "what about Seattle and Microsoft?!?!?!" - the really important question.

Seattle and Microsoft were amazing.  Seattle was gorgeous and we could totally see ourselves settling down there (at least for a little while).  Microsoft looked like an incredible company to work for, with lots of amazing people I was already wishing to get to know better at the end of 4 days.    They treated us well and we liked what we saw.


So are we moving?


No.  In the end, what we value most in life is right here in Raleigh.  There were so many reasons we could have moved, and yet equally as many and more for staying right here.  So after what felt like a really long, agonizing decision, with lots of questioning and prayer and "what ifs" and "are you sures", we now know that we are staying here and that it's not just the easy/lazy decision, it's the wise decision.  And peace is knowing that you prayerfully considered and made a wise choice.  Even when part of you wishes for the opposite decision, peace is knowing that God will take care of you and provide for you, wherever you are.  Seattle.  Raleigh.  Or any where in between.

So, look out Raleigh!!!    .......    We're staying here!!!!!  :-D

The weekend in reverse in pictures (take 2)

....minus the death warmed over part

....plus today, which is definitely not the weekend, so we'll say "extended weekend in reverse".

So here we go...

Today is crockpot day.  Almost every Wednesday is or there is no dinner when I get done teaching.  Charlie loves to help Mama make food.  Mostly stir things.  He loves to stir.

 So he stands on his Learning Tower aka The Tower of Power and helps Mama stir.  Did I mention he loves to stir?

And yes, that is a teaspoon he is stirring with.  I finally figured out the smaller the spoon, the less mess he makes.  And yes his hand is practically in the soup in that last picture.  What can I say, he loves to stir soup.  Also, this is why hand washing is important.  Who am I kidding, a little dirt never hurt anyone.

Back up to Monday afternoon.  This is what I came home from Charlotte to.  :-)

Are you grinning from ear to ear?  Cause I was.  See, William left last Sunday afternoon to go to Baltimore for a week.  I left the following Friday morning to go to Charlotte to visit friends.  He came back on Saturday afternoon and I finally came back Monday afternoon (while he was at work).  8 days without seeing him.  So I loved my welcome home greeting. :)

The Daddy and Mommy legos being key components of it all.  We're a little obsessed with "Daddy and Mommy Wegos" as they are called in our house.  Someone marches all around the house toting them and losing them and causing his mother to stress about finding them again.

The best part being that Charlie was the one who actually came up with the "Daddy and Mommy Wegos".  At first sight he immediately associated the red hair with daddy and the brown hair with mommy.  I was pretty proud, I have to admit. :)

Me and my "Mommy Wego".  See the resemblance? ;-)

Back up to Friday morning on the road and this is what I caught sight of.

Don't know what you are looking at yet?

I kept inching closer and closer.

Yea baby.  Only the best beer ever. ;-)  I wanted to follow that van wherever it was going and grab an ice cold Hummin' Bird.  Too bad we had our own separate agendas.

This one's for you William! 

Caught it as I drove by!  And no I did not take my eyes off the road to snap that picture.  I got a lucky shot as I was driving by.  Always drive responsibly.  I was.  For the most part.

So somewhere in between the Legos and the Red Oak beer, the weekend with Charlotte friends occurred, as did the 36 hours from hell.  Still don't know if it was food or just a passing bug or both, but I spent Saturday morning to Sunday evening in such tummy agony as I ever remember feeling.  No one should spend that much time in the bathroom.  Need I say more.

My host was gracious enough to take care of me and watch my kiddo and not take any pictures of me stumbling around in my sweats looking like death warmed over.  Erin, I am EVER so grateful for all of those.  I am pretty sad that I didn't get any pictures of Charlie and Jack playing, but maybe Erin will send me some pictures and I'll get to post them anyways.  I think they had a jolly good time, in spite of the person making mad dashes to the bathroom.

So there was this past weekend.  Glad to be home.  Enjoyed seeing friends.  Wish I could have seen more of them instead of so much bathroom tile.  But still good.

So many more things to blog about.  That must be what being a mom blogger is all about.  Tons of posts to write and never time to write them.

Happy Wednesday evening!

Are you a Dr. Seuss Character?

So Charlie loves reading books.  He's really enjoying some of the simpler Dr. Seuss books right now.  More specifically he loves There's a Wocket in My Pocket.  I can't really blame him - it's one of my faves too.  Don't you get your kicks from saying, "Sometimes I'm quite CERTAIN there's a JERTAIN in the CURTAIN"?

But my absolute favorite part of the book is when we get to this page.  Why?

Because Charlie always, without fail, points to the Bofa and shrieks out, "Sahhmeee!  Uncko Saahmeee!!  Dah-deee!!"

You people who know Uncle Sam and his glasses, and the crazy resemblance to William - you know exactly what I'm talking about.

And seriously, I totally got it the first time Charlie said "Uncko Saahmee!"  I knew immediately.

So how does it feel, Uncle Sammy, to resemble a Dr. Seuss character in the eyes of your two year old nephew?

Roasted Chickpea Tacos

This is a recipe I have been wanting to share with you for a while, but due to all the internet issues I've been having, on top of all the regular business, it has just fallen by the wayside.  Too bad, 'cause it hasn't over here on the menu!  Fallen by the wayside that is.  We have already had it twice and probably will have it a third time soon.  It is just SO tasty!  I got the recipe from Peas and Thank You, a new blog I discovered recently.  "Mama Pea" as she calls herself has a saucy writing style that initially I wasn't too in to, but now I really enjoy.  She blogs about all things vegan and yummy and she is the one to credit for this recipe.  In fact, I think this is one of the few recipes that I haven't altered at all....except the lack of Daiya cheese on top.  We didn't do that.  Oh, and we added some of our own toppings.  And decreased the salt slightly.  Okay, so this recipe almost made it out without extra tampering.

Recipe adapted from Peas and Thank You.

Roasted Chickpea Tacos   ~   makes 8

2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp each, onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2-3/4 tsp salt (do as little as you can)

1 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp water

1 14oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

8 crunchy taco shells

Taco Toppings: tomato, guacamole, lettuce, hummus, non-dairy cheese, Smoky Black Bean Dip

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine all seasonings and chickpeas in a bowl and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Do try and get the marinating in folks.  The second time I made them I forgot to allow time to marinate and the flavors were not as strong.

Dump chickpeas on a lightly oiled baking sheet or parchment paper and bake for 20-30 minutes until chickpeas are slightly crispy.  I didn't really think this got them to the "slightly crispy" point, rather they were no longer wet and swimming in marinade.  But it didn't matter cause they were still super tasty at this point.

Prepare taco shells according to package instructions, and then stuff shells with roasted chickpeas and toppings of choice!  

My mouth is seriously watering looking at this picture again.

These pictures were taken the first time when all we had was guac, tomatoes, and chickpeas (and lettuce which I forgot to put on for the pictures).  The next batch is where we added Smoky Black Bean Dip which I had just recently come up with, and that was a SUPER tasty addition.  I'll be posting that recipe very soon and link to it as soon as it's up.  Update 10/10/11 - Get your black bean dip love on here!

These tacos were out of this world!  Even my husband declared these were pretty darn tasty and has asked for them several times now. :)  Admittedly with crunchy taco shells involved, these don't fall on my SUPER healthy list of recipes, and if you are watching your calories/weight, you want to be careful to only consume 1 or 2 taco shells and then either eat the rest of your taco insides in a bowl, or better yet supplement with a large, tasty green salad.  :)  But whether you eat 1 or 4, these babies are Yum-MEE!

Mmm, all this taco talk makes me wish tonight was taco night tonight!  Enjoy your weekend folks!

  

Beach Pictures! Part 2

Hah, so here are the rest of the pictures from our August beach trip finally!  Enjoy!

Starring out so longingly.  He was more ready to go in the water than we were.

So ready in fact that we had to keep a grip on him or he would have walked right out into waves above his head.

He absolutely LOVED splashing in the water.

And I absolutely LOVE this boy.

"Would you kindly stop taking my picture, Mama?"

I love that I have a ton of pictures of him looking like he was taking right off into the  water.  He would run towards the waves, arms trailing behind him, take a little jump and then fling his fist fulls of sand into the "osha".  :)

Daddy made him a little mini swimming pool that he sat in for a while to watch the waves.

Okay, played in really.

Can you see his little raised eyebrow goofy look at you?  He'll give me that look sometimes like, "Mom, are you serious?"

We found a hole.  A perfect sized hole that someone else had made and abandoned.

So of course we must investigate.

And of course try and fit inside the hole.

He was so intrigued with trying to get in the hole.

"I made it Mama!  I'm in the hole!"

But then he got stuck and couldn't get out.

I think he was worried we weren't going to pull him out.   Lucky for him, we love him just enough to retrieve him from a hole at the beach and take him home with us. ;-)

Family Picture time!

Charlie will still almost constantly talk about the "beetths" and the "osha" even though it's been a month since our trip.  He's been to the beach before, in fact once earlier this summer in May even, but this trip appears to really have left an indelible mark on his little memory.  We totally can't wait to take him back to the beach again next year!

Happy beach times everybody!