Double digits for Ainsley

10 years ago on June 23, I gave birth to my last daughter. Although we waited all day for contractions to start (my water broke in the morning), she, in true Ainsley fashion, arrived in the last hour of the day. She was quite fussy as a baby, and liked to eat alot. She still likes to eat alot, she only has a melt down when she is tired or you guessed it, hungry.
She asked to have a Mexican birthday party, out of her love for nachos, tacos and burritos. I'm not sure if nachos truly qualify for mexican fare, but that is what we fed her friends along with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips, fruit salsa and virgin margaritas. Both A's and the Roz decorated the backyard in red, green and white (colors of the Mexican flag, in case you were wondering). We had a pinata, held a churro eating contest, and played pin the tail on the donkey. The girls appeared to have fun, and at the end of the party, were sent home with goody bags filled with hot tamale candy, Jarritos soda, corn nuts (salsa flavored, haha) and mini flash cards with spanish words.
Ainsley, after all of her friends left, declared the day a success. Then she promptly asked for more nachos.

Big A is done with elementary school

On June 21st, 2011, Big A got a certificate of completion from elementary school. For the big day, we purchased a new dress, and platform sandals (gasp, flashback from the 80's!) for her. The school decided on  a hawaiian themed celebration, so we purchased a lei made with purple orchids for her to wear. The lady at the flower store said it was "straight from Hawaii". Woah. We were impressed.
Before the ceremony started, we were looking at the program. It appeared as though they were going to recognize the kids who were involved in the various activities the school offered. We started chuckling, because if you know Big A, she is one of those kids who likes to be involved with everything. The only thing she wasn't involved in was basketball, and don't think she didn't try out for the team, although she had never played a lick of b-ball in her lifetime.
So they started naming off the various activites, and Big A's name was called over and over again. So much so, we started hearing people murmur, "there's that Alex Agee kid again". It really made us laugh, because that was our kid they were talking about.
Her biggest thrill was when she received a certificate for Academic Excellence, and she saw President Obama had his signature on the paper. I could read her lips from across the room, "Barack Obama signed this!"

She was a little sad to be leaving this school she attended since the first grade, where she knew all of the staff, and had many adventures. But she's also excited to start a new chapter in her life. We hope she continues to try new things and be involved with everything.

Relaxin'

It's been a few weeks since I last blogged. The month of June was so busy, it zipped by in a blur. I worked several extra shifts, watched Alex as she graduated from 6th grade, had a Mexican birthday party for Ainsley and went camping at Lake Wenatchee. Whew! It has been crazy.
Now I'm home for a few more days before I have to go back to work. It's been nice not being obligated to anything, other than after camping laundry and some weeding in my front flower bed. Now if I could only sleep past 7 am.......

I miss my muffin head

I'm missing my oldest girl, Victoria. She lives out on the East Coast, living life as a 19 going on 20 year old. Life gets busy, and we don't get to talk as much. 

While getting prepared to send my middle one off to jr high, it made me think of when my oldest went to that exact same school. How time has flown; Vic has graduated, is now working and contemplating what to do with the rest of her life. 

I miss having her around, hearing her loud voice, her laughter and her beautiful smile. I miss her wit, and being able to joke with her. (Ok, we joke around on the phone, but it's not the same).

I really miss making fun of her favorite hairdo, which I lovingly call the muffin head. About 90% of the time, you will find Victoria wearing her hair this way. She would always say "why are you joking me, mom?" I joke because she lets me, and deep down inside, I know she loves it.







 



Muffin head



Real head



This photo always reminds me of bliss and happiness.

Bear sighting

So the AA's schol was put in lockdown today due to a bear sighting. Apparently they found the bear, shot it with a tranquilizer gun and somehow let it get away. In my neighborhood. Hmmmm, what to do? Lock everything up? Put my bird suet away, so it won't be a midnight snack for a sleepy bear? Heck no! I'm leashing up my Garry boy and going on a bear hunt! (with a reluctant Ros close behind)
We have woods all around our 'hood. There are many potential hiding spots for a sleepy bear. We look in backyards, up in trees, all around the golf course. No bear. We walk through the wooded park where there are three kids and their beagle obviously on their own hunt. They didn't find a bear either. I towed Garry and Ros all over the place without any luck. After over an hour of walking, we went home, a disappointed group.
According to the news, the bear has yet to be found. So I'm leaving my suet out, with hopes of finding a furry friend in the girls tree house.

Photo by Brynn Grimley / Kitsap Sun kitsapsun.com

Stop your whining Haiku

I'm sitting here tired and crabby after working all weekend. It's late (for me) and I just want to go to bed, but I can't because I signed up to bring cookies for our spaghetti fundraiser we are holding at work tomorrow. So I am baking chocolate crinkle cookies, which aren't turning out exactly the way I wanted, and getting more irritated by the minute.
For the last bake sale we held, (we are fundraising to benefit Relay for Life) some of the most beautiful and delicious cookies were donated. Especially the seven layer bar which sold out in a matter of minutes. You know the cookies that have layers of chocolate, coconut, toffee and other yumminess that just make you weak at the knees? These were baked by the husband of a co-worker. He has been pretty sick lately, and during one of his hospitalizations, was laid off from his job. His wife has been working many double shifts, sometimes working up to 15 days straight, just to pay his bills. Yet they still found the time to bake these delicious cookies for a fundraiser.
He won't be able to bake for this fundraiser, he was sent to the ICU this morning. So I'm going to stop my whining, bake my cookies and count my blessings.

Look for the good things

Be happy with what you have

Enjoy life today

Zumba withdrawal

I'm going through withdrawals. My beloved Zumba instructor, who by the way, is the best instructor (evah), went on maternity leave this week. She can't be replaced; I've tried other instructors (they don't bring the hard core workout like her), so I'm Zumba-less this summer. UNLESS, The Ros agrees to let me buy the new Zumba workout video set, for the small price of about $90. Um, yeah, right.

So I will count the days until Beth tires of changing diapers and is ready to bring the hurt back to her class.  Zumba is hard work in itself, but to do it while you are eight months pregnant is phenomenal. She is my hero.

Parent's night

Tonight was parent's night at the junior high. It was an introduction for those of us who have children going into the 7th grade. For those of us who are in denial and can't comprehend their child is growing up. For those of us who couldn't take the school tour without wanting their child to walk along beside them instead of being with their friends. (Why are they walking so far ahead?) We are so in trouble.......

Pizza night

We have weekly pizza night. It was generated out of my family's love for pizza and my resentment of forking out $30 every time we ordered out.

I don't have any fancy KitchenAid mixer or even a bread machine, so my pizza dough is mixed in a regular bowl with my hand. I know, it sounds so archaic, but it's easy! I tried out several different recipes, before I found the one that worked and tasted the best. It's a simple recipe, and can be altered to individual taste. Here is the link: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/homemade_pizza/  We like our crust very thin, and found this recipe will make 5 pizzas.

Sometimes I make my own tomato sauce, other times (when I'm tired, lazy, unprepared) I will use jarred pasta sauce. Everyone has their favorite toppings; I'm the adventurous one and make a different pizza every week. I have used jalapenos, feta cheese, crushed red peppers, and fresh basil. Feta, italian sausage and fresh basil combination is one of my favorites. Here is one of little A's pizza.

 

The family likes pizza night, and I like not having to spend too much dough! Haha!

Garry!

We have a new dog in our house. I should say a large puppy, because Garry is only one year old, but about 60 pounds of goofy mischief.

I love this dog. He is a sweet boy, who loves to sit in the recliner and will follow you (me) all over the house (even when I want private time in the bathroom).

We didn't get much history on him before he came home, and even when I picked him up from his foster dad, all I got was Garry was left home alone a lot and got into trouble. No problem, he could be crated when we were out, problem solved. Then I got some paperwork from the shelter he stayed at prior to the foster home. They labled him "busy bee". Hmmmm......what could that mean?

For those of you who don't know, Garry is deaf. But he understands sign language, which works really well when he is looking at you. But for those times when I am in the living room, and Garry is, say in the kitchen stealing watermelon off the island counter, it's hard for the sign language to work. Yelling doesn't work too well either, but it doesn't stop me from shouting "Garry!" from the couch.

His nose is really what gets Garry into trouble. Because his ears don't work, his nose works overtime. He loves the smell of my hand cream (Look ma, new hands from Bath and Bodyworks) so much, that when I left it out one night, he attempted to eat the container it came in. The coffee on the coffee table I left for minute to use the bathroom (for once he didn't follow me in) smelled so good, he drank the whole cup. I made some yummy oatmeal one morning, and he didn't get any, so he ate the dried oats which were sitting in the basket by the island. Bread in the bread basket, gone. Onions in the garden, gone. The Easter candy someone (Little A, you know better than that) kept "hidden" in their room, gone. "Garry!" is a common phrase used in our house, but he doesn't listen.

I'm a little concerned with his eyesight too, because this morning he ran into the sliding glass door trying to get a squirrel. But that's for another post.

HAIKU

During nursing school, one instructor insisted on having each student write a haiku poem to turn in with our weekly journals. At first it seemed like a chore, adding to our already busy schedule, but it became an interesting way to express our feelings (excitement, nervousness, stress) for that week.
In order to get in touch with my creative side, (stop laughing) I am going to post a weekly haiku. It will be fun trying to summarize my week in 17 syllables. You are welcome to join me in expressing yourselves and creating your own haikus.
My haiku for today:

The sun is shining

Flipflops shorts sunglasses on

Oh euporia

A keeper or not?

I love to cook. Well, when I have the time and the inclination, I love to cook. I'm always browsing for new recipes and have a ton of them bookmarked in my computer. I usually try out abour four new recipes a month.
My mother is from Okinawa, and she is a fantastic cook. I've never really attempted to make Japanese food, mostly because she always seems to have food for me to take home whenever I see her. (She watches my kids for me several times a week, so I see her often) And as Big A mentioned in her Mother's day letter to Grandma, "you are the best cook in the world, even better than my mother!" Who can compete with that?
This morning while reading the Seattle Time's Pacific Northwest magazine, I came across this recipe for Karaage-style Fried Chicken, which is basically small pieces of chicken fried into yummy goodness. I have been wanting to make this style of chicken for awhile, but have been turned off by the frying process. But this morning, I had the time and inclination to try this recipe:

Pacific NW Deep-fry success with Japanese-style fried chicken Seattle Times Newspaper

Well, it took a little work to prepare the marinade and cut up all the chicken. (I doubled this recipe to ensure leftovers for lunch.) It was easy to fry up, but the chicken didn't stay very crisp, even while in the warm oven. The flavor could have been better, maybe if I marinated it all day or overnight. (you could definitely taste the ginger) I served it with broccoli and brown rice, and had ponzu sauce (a citrus based soy sauce) on the side.

The verdict: Not a keeper

Spring Saturday

Although the season is officially spring, it has been rather cold and rainy here in the Pacific Northwest. Our winter weather has tenaciously hung on, reluctant to let go.
Today, on a Saturday that I did not have to work, it was sunny. Ok, so maybe the high was 65 degrees, but I'll take it. We took full advantage by mowing the lawn, cleaning out the flower beds, and vacuuming and washing the cars. (I know, I know, it's probably going to rain tomorrow!) In our newly planted vegetable garden, I spied this flower on a strawberry plant. I bet it liked the sun too.  

Sugar Ray

At the end of March, we lost our 5 year old boxer to cancer. Her name was Sugar Ray. Although she lived three months after she was first diagnosed, it was the first animal death our family had to endure. It was difficult seeing the cancer melt every ounce of fat from her already skinny boxer body. Once she stopped eating and couldn't do anything but look at us with sad, pathetic eyes, I took her in to the vet's office to be put down. I had many people tell my husband and me not to be there when they injected the medication into her, that it would be very tramautic experience. I only had one person tell me about the peaceful experience she had when her dog had to be put down. She told me such a wonderful story, I knew I had to be there when Sugar passed on.
When I got to the vet clinic, they put me in an exam room, and layed a quilt on the floor. When the vet came in with the medication he would use to euthanize her, he had me lay her on the blanket. She did so very willingly, which was unusual. (Sugar always had a mind of her own) I think she knew what was going on. As the doctor injected the medication into the iv line, Sugar looked up at me, licked me four times on my cheek and fell asleep. It was the most wonderful gift, she wanted me to know that she was going to be ok. It was such a profound experience.
We miss her terribly, the crazy dog who couldn't look you in the face without licking it. She was something else.

Frito Pie

For when you don't know what to cook for dinner (or because someone forgot to make the pizza dough), frito pie works in a pinch. All it takes is chili (homemade, or canned), fritos and shredded cheese. Put some fritos in a bowl, add chili and cheese. Easy peasy dinner. Ok, so it's not the most healthiest thing ever, but we like it.

3 a.m. wakeup

I found this note on my pillow last night when I went to bed. Ainsley (or Little A) wanted to watch the royal wedding. It's a school night. It was going to be a long day for the girls with play and track practice after school. But how often do you get the chance to watch a prince marry his princess? So I set my alarm, and woke the girls up at 3am. We watched William and Catherine get married while cuddled up in our warm pjs and blankets. Once in a lifetime opportunity.

Alex is my biggest fan

So The Ros suggested that I start blogging since I am on the computer a lot, and I always have random ideas floating in my head. Or it could be that I talk so much, blogging would be a good outlet for me. Anyways, here I am.
Alex (or Big A as we sometimes call her) wanted to be my first follower. So she signed on to her Google account and linked to this blog. She thinks I'm cool for doing this. I'll take it, because there will be a time (probably sooner than later) that she won't think that anything I do is cool.
So anyways, I'll be sharing some random bits and pieces of my life. And maybe you'll think I'm cool too. (haha, just kidding)