Austin Rides a Bike

After 10 years and much resistance, Austin has learned how to ride his bike!  My mommy buttons are bursting.  Bless his heart, he was having such a hard time.  He has put this off for so long and I know that the longer he has put it off, the harder it has made it with his rapidly increasing height and quickly diminishing ego.  The first day Drew went out with him first and made a fantastic effort and was very patient with Austin trying to explain all the mechanics of riding.  Austin honestly didn't really even have the concept of pedaling.  Then Tom went out there with him to lend additional moral support.  He about lost it when a 4 year old neighbor boy rode up on his two-wheeler and proceeded to ride circles around Austin.  I thought it was quite rude and he was ready to give up at that point but Tom assured him that we all had faith in him and he soldiered on.  While he didn't fully get it that first day, he was definately getting closer.

The next day we were at it again.  I went out there with him and pushed him off and he immediately took off and rode around the corner.  He found his balance!  The rest as they say, is history.  He mostly worked by himself from that point perfecting steering, stopping and pushing off.  Within a half hour he was doing circles around the block.  Being the dear klutz that he is, he still had several crashes, but despite numerous scrapes and bruises, he never gave up.  By the end of the day he was enthusiasic about the whole endeavor and he has asked to go out to ride his bike every day since and he and his dad went looking for a bike to have at his dad's house too.  I'm so very proud of you Austin.  You never gave up and now look what you've accomplished!  Great job!  xoxo, Mom

Camping = Success

Soooo much fun!  Camp Dakota was everything we were hoping for.  Father's Day itself was very rainy so when we got there and saw how damp the tee pee was, we went for the upgrade and switched to a yurt instead.  As I was asking about it, a lady was turning in her key and it was the last yurt they had available, so we were lucky.  The yurts there are great!  20 feet wide with woodstoves, electricity and a dining table so technically not roughing it, but the camp only had outhouses so we had to rough it a little :) After unpacking and getting a fire started to chase away the chill we all just hung out a little.  As always, by the time you organized your gear, grocery shop, pack everything then drive there and unload it all, I was exhausted so I enjoyed the time resting and reading a book for a bit then it was hot dogs over the fire for dinner!  Once we got Zane and Ainsley settled down after s'mores, Tom, Trevin and I played cards for a couple of hours.  We had a great time!

Monday dawned with a much better prospect with sun.  After a filling breakfast of pancakes, eggs and juice, Tom and Trevin got all suited up to go play paintball.  When we arrived at the field, there were already three boys there around Trevin's age waiting to play, but the field ref said there was another group of six coming, so they waited around for them to show up because it is so much more fun to play with more people on the field.  they field was great.  It probably covered an acre of land and had lots of bunkers, vehicles and all sorts of places to hide.  Trevin said it was the best field he has ever played on!  While the boys were having fun on the field, I took Zane and Ainsely for a small hike through the camp and then over to go gold panning.  What an experiene that was!  They were so cute, and we actually found a flake of gold, plus a large piece of Jasper, amethyst, tiger's eye and several different types of agates.  So much fun!    By 2pm they were all starving so we had lunch and Trevin went off to play some more paintball.  Tom was a little too tuckered for another round, so he took the kids to the RC Track where they got to rent cars and race around a track.  They absolutely loved it!  By the end of the day, everyone was pretty tired so the kids went to bed and Tom and Trevin played some more cards.  I finished my book and we all called it an early night.

Tuesday was beautiful.  Everyone worked together and we were able to pack up and head out by 10:30 to go hiking.  After dropping the keys off at the office and getting directions to our remote destinations, we were off.  About a 1/4 of a mile pass the driveway to the campground, the road ends and it's all gravel from there on out.  We turned off onto a logging road about 2 miles away and traveled an additional 3 miles down into a canyon on a rough logging road.  When you reach the bottom, there is a barely discernable traila that takes you the rest of the way down to the river.  This is not your nice state-maintained trail.  This was a rugged, STEEP trail with plenty of rocks, trees and roots to traverse.  I was a little worried about Zane and Ainsley at first, but my fears were unfounded.  They were absolute troopers.  After about 3/4 of a mile, we made it to the bottom then had to work our way upstream for another 1/4 of a mile.  Really rough going it was, but the payoff was worth it.  As you round your last corner you're confronted with the full roar of Abiqua Falls.  It drops straight down 80 foot into a private cove that is just stunning.  I was awed by the beauty of nature.  It made it that more special knowing that few people have there to see its breath-taking beauty.  I got busy snapping pictures and the kids enjoyed the rest skipping rocks with dad. 

After climbing our way back uphill with my quads burning and completely winded, it was off to Butte Falls.  We drove up and out of the canyon then further down Crooked Finger Road to hike to the falls.  There are actually two falls locatated on the hike which by the way was much easier, but still a lot of hills.  The upper falls is shorter but you can actually go behind them which is always fun and the lower falls is much taller that you view from this narrow outcropping of land that is 100+ feet in the air with no handrails.  It was a little nerve-racking because Zane and Ainsley kept saying, "I have no fear."  That's what was worrying me!  But, there were no accidents and the day was full of so much beauty and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  I still can't believe how well Zane and Ainsley did.  Of course they zonked out on the way home, but they deserved the nap.  All-in-all, it was a great Father's Day celebration and one that I hope everyone will remember forever!

A-Camping We Will Go!

We're off to see the sites at Camp Dakota!  Happy Father's Day to Tom.  Even though the weather is not really what it should be at this time of year, I wanted to take Tom camping for Father's Day.  Since the weather is not cooperating too much no matter what direction you drive, we decided to stay close to home.  Camp Dakota is a little place I discovered back in February when I was looking for paintball fields for Trevin's birthday.  It is located outside Scott's Mills so it'll take us less than an hour to get there.  They have a paintball field, gold panning, treasure hunting, an RC track and disc golf course.  Nearby is plenty of hiking and waterfalls.  Seeing as we are only staying for 2 nights, we should have plenty to do.  Of course Drew and Austin will be spending the time at their father's houses, so we will only be taking Trevin, Zane and Ainsely.  It seems like it should be less effort to get only three kids ready to go, but it has been SEVERAL years since I've been camping so all of our gear was in extreme disarray.  I pulled it all out today and washed and organized it.  Everything is ready to go including the kids stuff except for Tom and I's personal items.  Even cute little Josie's food and bowls!  This will be our first camping trip with her so yes, I'm feeling a little trepidation.  We bought one of those tie-out things so she can't wander off, but I worry about her barking.  We'll just have to hope for the best. 

I will be taking our camera and try to take lots of pictures to share when I get home.  Hope all you dad's have a wonderful day as well!

Chicken and Vegetables Braised in Peanut Sauce Recipe at Epicurious.com

Chicken and Vegetables Braised in Peanut Sauce Recipe at Epicurious.com

Thursday Night this week we 'sailed' to Africa for this yummy recipe. If you are looking for a hearty meal, this will definately satisfy. It is believed that this stew - called mafe or maafe - originated among the Bambara people of Mali who are the largest and most dominant group in that country. They speak "Bamana" which is one of the Manding languages. Because in the 1800's aggressive Muslim groups overthrew their kingdoms of Segu and Karta, Bambara is 70% Muslim today. They are mostly farmers whose main crop is millet, even though sorghum and groundnuts are produced in large quantities. There villages are made up of many different family units. Each household is responsible to provide for all of its members. Marriage is very significant and considered a type of investment with the main purpose being to have children who provide the family's labor and ensures the future of the family lineage. Most Bambara women have an average of eight children! Glad I'm not Bamabaran....I have enough trouble with my five :)

The general African facts that the children brought to the table are as follows...

Trevin, the average lifespan of the Bambara people is 46
Drew, the Sahara desert is larger in size than all of the continental US

I thought the meal was great, but then I love most things with peanut sauce. The kids are not huge fans of sweet potatoes, so I used carrots, turnips and parsnips for my vegetables instead. I think any combination of root vegetable would be fun to try. Let me know what you think!

Jennifer Fallon's Wolfblade Trilogy

This is the latest trilogy I've been reading.  Technically Jennifer Fallon's books fall into the 'Fantasy' genre, but they are not deep into the fantasy aspect.  There is a little magic and a magical race called the Harshini, but really it has a lot of religious connotations.  The Harshini were a race of people created by the Primal Gods (very similar to Native American religion with a River Goddess, Storm God, God of War, etc) who can touch the source of all power like the gods, but are not quite as powerful.  The Harshini are a peaceful people who are unable to understand the concepts of violence or hatred.  In fact, in order to create balance, the Gods had to create demons who are capable of violence. 

Ultimately, the conflict comes between the Primal Gods and a renegade God who wants the worship of all the people in order to become so powerful he'll rule the world.  The pawns of all this are, of course, the people of four regions; Fardohynia, Karien, Medallon and Hythria.  They all are ruled by different governments and religious beliefs.  An interesting cast of characters ties them all together and makes for a very interesting read.  If you have shied away from Fantasy in the past, this is a good one to cut your teeth on since it is not too heavy on the general fantasy aspects.  I think you'll enjoy it!  Happy reading!

Kah-Nee-Tah 2010 4th Grade Class Trip

Last Thursday Austin and I embarked on his 4th Grade Class trip to Kah-Nee-Tah.  We met all the other kids at school at 9:00.  It was a good thing I brought the van because I was fully loaded; with kid gear, sleeping bags and TONS of firewood.  It was a pretty uneventful trip up there.  Courtney was a chaperone as well and carpooled with me.  We get along well so we chatted the whole way.  The bus stopped at Laurel Hill to see where the Settlers had to lower their covered wagons over the steepest hill on the Oregon Trail. 

When we arrived, it really started to rain and pretty much rained for the rest of the day.  We're Oregonians though, so nothing like a little rain was going to stop the kids from enjoying Kay-Nee-Tah's awesome pool.  They got to swim for three ours while us silly adults huddled under the eves of the restroom :)  BBQ burgers and hot dogs followed and then the kids gathered for a group campfire and listened to a Warm Springs Indian discuss the history of Native Americans.

We finished the night with s'mores cooked right inside our teepees and a ghost story read by me.  Our boys were great; we had them all snug in their sleeping bags and asleep by 10:30.  The downfall to this....they were all up bright and early by 6 AM!  After showers, breakfast and pack-up we headed to the Warm Springs Museum and learned more about their culture.  I must admit, the children really were delightful and good kids, but, by the time everyone was eating their lunch, the parents looked a little droopy.  I think we were all ready to get home.  Even Austin headed straight to bed for a nap when we got home.

Overall, it was a great time had by all and I would delight in going on another class trip.  The kids were so much fun and I think they really enjoyed the whole experience.

Wine Tasting Pics-Memorial Day 2010

Memorial Day Weekend = Wine Tasting!

Four wineries plus six woman and one man equals a good time had by all!  Myself, Sammie, Mom, Aunt Judy, Aunt Shelly, Aunt Dorma and Jeff set out Saturday for the annual spring kick-off of wine season.  Everyone met at our at 11:30 and off we went into the beautiful East Willamette Valley.  This is a lesser known area of Oregon wine country, but still beautiful none-the-less.  The biggest advantage to East Willamette Valley is their prices.  Things are definately more affordable outside the Dundee/McMinneville area.   Silverton was our first stop with Vitis Ridge Winery located inside a brewery there.  It was the only winery where we had to pay a tasting fee, but I thought it was more than fair seeing as they had 12 wines to try, plus complimentary glass.  By far, it was my favorite stop of the day.  I have experienced their wine several times in the past and have always enjoyed it.  I think everyone else liked it too as they collaborated and bought a case of wine collectively. 

Next, we were off to Pudding River.  What a quaint little place.  Their tasting room is located in a renovated barn on the upper floor and everyone got to stumble over the pronunciation of Viogner.  I had packed us a European-style lunch so we dined outside while the weather was decent.  They had an adorable white kitty who fell in love with Shelly's purse and was rubbing everyone's feet while we ate. 

After a very satisfying meal of meat, cheeses, chicken salad sandwiches, grapes and bread, we headed south to Silver Falls Winery.  I can't say Silver Falls is one of my favorites, but they had a delightful Australian Shepard there who did an excellent job guarding the driveway from our entrance.  Her name was
Coco and she was an old dog, but very sweet.

Finally, we finished at Piluso Vineyard.  The sun broke through to allow us to enjoy their beautiful grounds.  They had a lovely garden area with an out building that provided comfy chairs to relax and enjoy the setting.  I had a wonderful day with everyone and I'd like to say thank you to you all.  It was a truly relaxing day, and I enjoyed every minute of it and your company.  I can't wait to do it again!

I love My Children

I do love my children, just some days they seem to get the best of me.  I try to be a good mom, but boy, they wear me out some days.  I so want to be that fun-loving mother, but when two are fighting, one is being sassy  and another is sucken into self-quiet, IT"S HARD!  Please forgive me, my frustration.  AAARRRGGGHHH!

Boeuf Bourguignon a La Julia Child - 148007 - Recipezaar

Has anyone had the pleasure of watching Julie and Julia? It's a cute little flick about a young woman who decides to blog about cooking her way through Julia Child's Infamous cookbook. It also parallels the life of Julia Child while she was writing the book itself. The book took several years for Julia to write,, and it was fascinating learning about her life experiences. But I digress, the one thing I always wanted to make a La Julia Child style was her Boeuf Bourguignon. Alas, tonight I finally made it and it was delicious! If something incredibly rich with multiple levels of flavor doesn't appeal to you, then you should NOT try this recipe. I absolutely adored it and seeing as our weather has been bordering closer to late fall than late spring, today's rain deemed appropriate for this heavy meal. I tried not to mess with it too much, but I didn't have all the herbs on hands so I had to improvise marginally. Also, my sauce finished beautifully right out of the oven so I didn't strain it or mess with it any further. I just added the mushrooms and onions and served over egg noodles with crusty french bread. So yummy. Please give it a try if you haven't already, and if you feel like you are not an experience cook, this was fairly easy to make. The steps outlined from the link below are exactly how they appear in her book, but just a little clearer text. Happy eating!

Boeuf Bourguignon a La Julia Child - 148007 - Recipezaar

Pillars of the Earth on Starz Update!

I found the release date of Pillars of the Earth being aired on Starz for those of you who have access on cable;  July 23.  Check your local listing.  Again, if you are looking for a great epic novel, you might have just enough time to read it before then.  Found a link on Amazon for only $3.83, pretty good price and well worth it.  Once you start, I guarantee you'll be sucked in.  This was the first novel that Tom read cover to cover and I'm not talking years ago, I mean last year.  I'm still surprised that his first novel was over 1100 pages.  He was addicted.  Please comment if you have read this book.  I'd love to hear what other people have to say about, plus if you've read the newest one, please weigh in with that too!

Here's the link if you want to check out more

Pillars of the Earth Television Official Site

Hawaiin Cuisine = International Night?

Okay so I cheated.  For dinner tonight I wasn't feeling incredibly creative so I fell back on an old stand-bye, Kalua Pig which is soooo yummy!  Instead of taking the time to wrap a whole pig in banana leaves and digging a giant whole in the ground to cook it, I just rub a large pork roast in liquid smoke then sprinkle with Hawaiin finishing salt (red or pink will do, but I prefer pink) and pop it in the crock pot.  Cook it on high for 8 hours or so and wa-la....beautiful pulled pork style, Kalua pig.  To accompany the pork we made white rice finished with coconut cream and Shannon-Style Kimchi.  While Kimchi is traditionally from Korea, the Hawaiins eat it in profusion especially with pork.  Obviously I didn't have 2 weeks to pickle cabbage so instead I braised my cabbage, cut into bite-size pieces, in vegetable stock till mostly tender then rinsed under cool water.  The sauce... 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp fish sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, a good shake of chili pepper flakes, a dash of salt, 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tbl of rice vinegar and 1 tbl of Sriracha hot chili sauce.  Honestly, I didn't measure any of this stuff, I just poured it in and adjusted to taste really how I cook most times.  So while you didn't get that great fermented/pickled flavor that you do with real kimchi, it was a decent substitute.  If it were just Tom and I eating, I would have definately used more hot sauce and made it spicier, but all-in-all I really liked it.  The sweetness of the coconut was delicious with the spiciness of the kimchi and the smokiness of the pork.  Those Hawaiins know what they're doing :)

Valentine's Day-The Movie

Tom and I watched this movie with Ainsley this week.  When it came out in the theaters, all of the reviews were less then stellar however,  with an all-star cast including Jessica Alba, Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Swift and Kathy Bates, it was still a must see in my book.  I have always enjoyed shows that follow the lives of many people who are connected to each other.  To me it comes across more like a book and being an avid reader, this is definately a good thing. 

Besides the great cast, the writing was simple but funny.  I'm not always interested in some deep, dark comedy.  I enjoyed the goofy characters and the ways they interacted with each other.  If you are looking for a good laugh and a great looking cast, then Valentine's Day is an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours.  We all did!

School Projects Galore

Why is it at the end of the year, teachers feel compelled to assign large projects.  With the exception of Zane, all the kids are concurrently working on huge projects at school.  Drew is reading a Hugo Award winning novel and writing a report on it.  The fun part is it's science fiction (not his favorite genre) and close to 700 pages long.  He abhors every minute of it.  I never thought it would be a struggle to get him to read. 

Trevin is working on a group project on the Battle of Bald Hill in Atlanta from the civil war.  In addition to a five page report and a 10 minute speech, he and his cohorts have to make a diorama of the battle.  The boys were here last night, and I must say, it was like the blind leading the blind.  It truly is a teenager thing.  It is not only my children that are easily distracted and find it hard to stay on task.  After 5 hours, help from Tom and I, and a lot of screwing off, they did get a pretty nice-looking diorama.  I'm proud of them.

Finally, we have Austin.  He is the 'Wagon-Master' of his group project which he takes very seriously.  They have been studying the Oregon Trail and he has to re-create a working replica of a Oregon Trail Wagon with all the supplies included.  Austin is strict on things looking real so it should be fun.  I'll post pictures once we get it done.

In short, my point is, why do they assign this stuff all at the same time?  Can't they take sympathy on those of us with multiple kids and spread the big stuff through out the year :)  It's great though, they truly are learning a lot and I'm so proud of everyone of them!

Don't Judge a Wine by It's Price

As an instructor at Western Culinary Institute, whenever we were doing wine tastings students would often ask how I knew a good wine when I tasted it? The simple answer is always, "If you like it, it's a good wine." It really doesn't matter if a wine costs $4.00, $40.00 or $400.00, if it's something you enjoy drinking, then it's worth every penny you paid for it. In fact, for all of you who watch your spending (who doesn't in these economic trying times) finding a delicious wine for an affordable price is like finding gold in an abandoned mine in California; it's a treasure to be valued. My most recent find was shared with me by my dear cousin Sammie Jo. For brunch on Mother's Day she was serving what else, but mimosa's, champagne mixed with orange juice, and the champagne she used was called Schloss Biebrich. Strictly speaking it is sparkling wine and not champagne as wine can only be labeled as 'champagne' if it comes from france and made from any combination of three grape varietal; pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. This particular sparkling wine hails from Germany therefore cannot be dubbed champagne, but I digress. The point is, I tried the wine sans orange juice and absolutely loved it. I have searched long and hard for a sparkling wine/champagne that I enjoyed as much as a 2002 Louis Roederer Cristal that I tried several years ago at a champagne tasting. Seeing as a bottle of that costs around $200.00, I'm been looking for something a little closer to my price point. The Schloss Biebrich is my personal diamond in the rough. This great little bottle of sparkling costs a mere $4.99 at Trader Joe's. Jackpot! I'm so excited by this find. I havent' found a wine treasure like this in forever. If you enjoy sparkling wine half as much as I do, or you have a celebration coming up and can't bear another bottle of Cooks or Andres, then try Schloss Biebrich in the Sekt style. Prost!

Dual Family Functions

The day started a little questionable, weather-wise. Tom was out watering the plants this morning while I finished preparing some eats and it started to rain. Luckily the weather cleared and we ended up with a fairly nice day. We headed to Tom's brother's boat to enjoy brunch with Rita, Tom's mom, his brother David and his nieces, Breana and Kelly. Trevin's mom is in Maui so he was able to tag along with us. We didn't get to see Rita for Mother's Day last week so that was the reason for the gathering. I made overnight baked french toast casserole from Paula Dean and Tom made a delicious fruit salad. It was a relaxing time to be had by all. David is always a very gracious host; I enjoyed myself.

Then it was off to Vancouver to meet up with my side of the family at Grandma and Grandpa's for Grandpa's birthday bbq. It's always such fun to see everyone and chat. Josie got to come with us and she met Zach, their dog and they got along better than anyone expected. She had a good day too, judging by how zonked out she is right now!

Hope everyone had a fine weekend and enjoyed the weather!

Asian Cooking New Passion

This week for International night on Thursday, we did Thai food. I am really enjoying different Asian cooking methods. I absolutely love my wok. I want to use it all the time. It real is quite amazing how different food turns out when cooked in a wok versus just a regular frying pan. I'm expanding my Asian pantry as well. My new favorite thing... fish sauce. Not what you may expect, but it adds such incredible flavor to things.

So, for Thai food this week, I went pretty tame with Pad Thai, Cucumber Salad and Sesame Green Beans. Everything was delicious. Yes, I again used Epicurious as my source and tinkered with the recipes a bit. It's fun to make stuff for the first time, but the second time is even more fun because you know what you want to adjust to make it your own. The kids really enjoyed the meal overall, well, everything but the shrimp for Trevin and Austin. Those two like seafood the least. Even Zane and Ainsley like it better than they do and Drew absolutely loves it. I added tuna poke style even though it is not traditional Thai, but more because Tom and I love it. Here are the links if you want to check them out for yourself. Happy cooking!

Green Beans with Thai-Style Sesame Sauce

Cucumber Salad

Jasmine's Pad Thai

I did both shrimp and chicken in the pad thai, but you can try any combo of meat that you prefer or use just one.

Also, in order to make cashew butter, just blend 1/2 cup cashews, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar in your food processor and add olive oil to desired consistency. I made closer to a cup of butter and added it to the pad thai as well. Yummy!

MMA Youthology Launched

Exciting News! As you all know, Trevin and Austin are both involved in MMA or Mixed Martial Arts. Some parents believe this is a "violent" sport and disagree with youth participating in it. Because of this, Tom and I were motivated to do some research and find out more about the sport and the benefits it can provide for kids. What we discovered was there is still very limited information out there and what you do find is hit and miss. Therefore, MMA Youthology was born. We have created a site that centralizes information for parents to learn about the sport and what it has to offer our youth. I urge everyone to check it out and spread the word if you or anyone you know is interested in learning more about MMA and let us know what you think. Thank you for your support!

MMA Youthology

Mother's Swarovski Crystal Rings

Because Mother's are so amazing, I've decided to dedicate another blog to their matchless abilities. My mother is such an incredible woman whom I admire immensely. She inherited some mighty talent from her mother. My mother can paint, do woodwork, bead, sew, the list is endless. She has given so many of her creations to friends and family as gifts; we are all so blessed to receive them. Each one has a piece of my mother's heart and soul in them, and her joy truly comes from creating something specific for those she loves. I have bugged her numerous times to sell her masterpieces but she adamently enjoys the freedom to make what she wants when she wants :) I can understand her point. The item of the week is one of her creations. She taught herself how to bead these beautiful swarovski crystal rings and they are breathtaking. Each one is unique and unrivaled to anything else on the market. Everytime I wear one, I receive numerous compliments because no one has ever seen anything like it. If you are interested in this ring or one like it, feel free to contact me and we can arrange to have one special ordered based on your size and color preferences.

In addition to my mother's talents, she is one of the most loving and giving women I know. She has taught me so much and regardless of the fact that I am, well, a full adult, she gives me endless support. I admire her so much and love her even more. Thank you, Mom, for everything. ~ Thosha

Happy Mother's Day

Did all the Mother's out there get the love and pampering they deserve? I certainly hope so. As all us mothers know, motherhood is the most underpaid job (monetarily) in the USA. We reap our rewards in different ways. Kissing sweaty forheads and brushing away hair from their brow while they are sleeping, grasping their hand to cross the street safely, hugging them tightly in the morning when they wake up, wishing them a good day when they head off to school. While many would interpret these actions as us giving to our children, it is us mothers who reap the true reward from these actions. The love in our hearts fills us up and keeps us motivated for all the days to come of constant reminding to put their backpack away or to make their bed. Many trial and tribulations face us as our children grow including our ever-present companion, guilt, but of course, it is all worth it. So on Mother's day, I hope you had the opportunity to bask in the love of your children and they were reminded to be extra kind to you. You deserve it, I know I do.

I was blessed enough to receive tulips and cards from all my children. My favorite part is their attempts at secrecy to surprise me. That's how I know they love me and all the little things they give. Thank you to all of you; you are all so dear to my heart and I don't know what I would do without you! xoxo ~ Thosha

Drew Gets His Braces On

Three years I've had 'discussions' with Drew about braces. Many an evening meal he has asked, "when can I get my braces on? Can that be my birthday/Christmas present?" In these economically trying times, coming up with $2000 for the co-pay has been somewhat of a challenge to make the commitment to getting Drew's braces put on. I agree with him fully that he needs them, unfortunately things like rent and food on the table have been more pressing at times. ALAS, the day has finally arrived. I awoke this morning with excitement knowing I was giving my son something he so desired at long last. After a busy morning of getting ready and the other kids off to school, we were off to get them put on. Insurance dictates we use Gentle Dental or Willamette Dental so it was off to Oregon City to Gentle Dental. All the x-rays and ground work already completed, the appointment actually ended up being much shorter than I had originally anticipated. After an hour and a $600 down payment, we were done and Drew finally had his braces on. Oh the irony that once he finally had them, he was nervous about going to school :) I, however, think they look great on him and am happy he'll finally be able to get all the kinks worked out plus he'll end up with an even more gorgeous smile! Good Luck Drew! I'm sure you'll have sore teeth tonight.

Asian Shrimp, Pineapple, and Peanut Salad Recipe at Epicurious.com

Asian Shrimp, Pineapple, and Peanut Salad Recipe at Epicurious.com

I was browsing on Epicurious (My absolute favorite site when looking for yummy new ideas) and found a fabulous new recipe. It is not often that I am so completely blown away by a recipe like I was this one. My favorite recipes are those that have many different flavors going on and this one definately satisfies in that department. Tom is not a lover of nuts in food so I did leave out the peanuts, but I think I will try it with some crumbled on top next time. The fresh mint really makes this recipe and don't be afraid of the fish sauce; it sounds scary, but it is a necessary component. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Trying New Things

In my perpetual search for ways to earn some money in the eternal struggle of survival I have added the gadget at the left with something offered for sale. I no longer want to just survive, I want to thrive! SO... I will now be offering an 'item of the week' for sale. This week I'm kicking it off with the horse weatervane statue seeing as I am such a huge horse fan. If anyone has anything they produce that they would like me to promote... please let me know. Let's make a deal! Let me know what y'all think!

Peak Potential

What a profound weekend! I learned so much about myself at the Millionaire Mind Intensive that Tom and I attended. Step-by step I learned about my attitudes towards money and myself emotionally. Why I fear things, why I am bitter about things from my past and because of those things, why I react the way I do to things that happen to me now. I am positively hoarse and have a sore throat from screaming so much. Mmmmm, ice cream.... thanks Tom. That feels much better :) Where was I? Oh yes, empowered. I am now empowered to take charge of my own future. Be a better parent. Be a better person! Hoo-Ya! Anyone want more details? Feel free to contact me... I'll let you know all about it!

Wednesday Weigh In-Week 2

I looked forward to week two of my weigh in with a lot of trepidation. I was fiercly hoping for those 4 pounds but feared it wasn't going to come to fruition. I did not hit my workouts as consistently last week as I had in week 1 and suspected the scale would reflect this. I have been working on eating smaller meals more frequently instead of a larger dinner which is what I am most guilty of. My cardio workouts are coming along. I don't feel as if I'm radically gasping for air after 10 minutes, I actually can make it to 30 minutes and feel pretty good about it. It sure is humbling to realize just how out of shape I had become. So I step on the scale, feeling like I weigh the same, but still feeling skinnier. Oh how well we know our bodies! Alas, the results, I gained .9 of a pound, BUT I lost 2 inches around my waist! That makes all those crunches worth it! Anybody willing to post their results with me?

Weekend News

This weeknde was pretty un-exciting but that's not always such a bad thing. Last Thursday I had my first real teenage confrontation with Drew and it put me into somewhat of a tailspin. Saturday was his baseball game and they won yet again 13-2. Thus far his team is undefeated and he is thoroughly enjoying playing. He was a little disappointed on Saturday because he didn't get a hit. He was walked 3 times, but at least he scored twice.

Sunday was a little sunnier outside so we took the kids and Josie up to the park and let them play. They played tag on the playground equipment. It was enjoyable to watch. We are trying to keep little Josie from being too terribly active. Monday I took her in for some x-rays because she is still limping from her 'adventure.' Unfortunately we discovered that she actually has a small break in her pelvis. Not really somewhere they can do a whole lot for it so she is just supposed to take it easy and refrain from jumping which has turned out to be more of a challenge than I originally thought. Every time I turn around she's springing onto the couch for cuddle time. I try to lift her up as much as possible, but as has been proven recently, she can be pretty sneaky :)

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! ~ Thosha

Pillars of the Earth - UPDATE

I've just checked the Starz website and the Pillars of the Earth miniseries is due to come out in July of 2010. No exact date yet, but I'll keep you posted :)

Wednesday = First Weigh In

Well it has officially been one solid week of working out. I only took Tuesday off to watch my favorite show, The Biggest Loser. Alas, I was pretty irritated at the fact that the Blazer game interrupted the showing. I'm sure plenty of Portland fans were happy with the game being on, but unhappy with the results of the game. That made me even more frustrated, the fact that they lost by 20+ points. I did get to catch the last few minutes of Biggest Loser so I saw that Victoria did get eliminated. Poor thing, I think she only ended up getting four weeks or so on the ranch. The girl did real well with what she had though. She fell below the yellow line with Sunny so it was no big surprise that Vicki was the one voted off, seeing as Sunny is a favorite on the show. All of the contestants are really starting to look great.

As for my weigh in.... I was decently pleased with the results. Last week I weighed in at 173+ pounds and this week I was just over 169 so I lost 4.4 pounds exactly. I have set a goal for myself of an additional 8 pounds over the next two weeks keeping with the 4 pounds per week. That would put me at 12 pounds in three weeks and my overall goal is to lose 30 pounds total by July 1st. I want to feel comfortable wearing a swim suit this season. It has been a long time since I felt confident in one. Any one willing to share their goals this week? I'd love to hear what you accomplished. Happy excercising! ~ THosha

Weekend Highlights-Drew's First Baseball Game

Saturday's weather was interesting and we weren't sure if it was going to end up nice or not, but Drew's baseball game started early at 11 am so it was clear and nice the whole time. It was a great game with the victory going to Drew's team. He is playing first base this year and did well at bat too; he hit a triple. Wow! I had a proud momma moment!

Sunday, Tom and I worked in the yard for several hours again. It is coming along quite nicely. The goal is to be done with the work and able to enjoy it by the time summer roles around. I must admit, having a small yard is making it a lot easier to achieve this! I'll post pictures soon. Hope you all had a great weekend too! Feel free to post what you did! ~ THosha

Pillars of the Earth-New TV Series...coming soon!

My favorite book of all time is an epic novel called Pillars of the Earth written by Ken Follett. Apparently I am not alone in my love of this novel; It is #2 on the NY Times survey for most popular books of all time and in Oprah's top ten list. I read it for the first time several years ago as a hand-me-down from my beloved sister Brandie and have probably read it a total of three times in all. At 1000 pages, it is an epic that is an absolute delight to read. In fact, last year, Tom got me the sequel to the book called World Without End and I enjoyed it just as much. Pillars is written in the time period of the early middle ages and tells the story of the inter-connecting lives of people surrounding the construction a cathedral and the surrounding town. World Without End is written from several hundred years later of the decendants of the first novel.

Exciting news for fans like me, I just found out this evening that Pillars of the Earth is coming out with an 8-hour mini series on Starz. It has finished filming and is in post production. I haven't seen when the actual air date will be, but I am anxiously awaiting its release. Donald Sutherland is playing an earl and there are several other big name actors in the movie. If you haven't read this book, I definately recommend you do so soon. Happy reading! ~ THosha

International Night - Sort Of :)

The kids finally talked me into doing "American Food" for International night. On Trevin's suggestion we went with Buffalo burgers and grilled up some mushrooms and onions to go on the burgers. Ironically enough, I didn't care for the buffalo. Not too disappointing since it cost $6.49 a pound! I did some research looking for cowboy type recipes and settled on Cowboy Beans. They were delicious. The recipe is as follows....

Cowboy Beans

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 sweet bell pepper, diced
3 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can baked beans
1 can Great Northern Beans
1/4 cup ketchup or catsup, whichever spelling you prefer ;0
1/4 cup Heinz 57 sauce
1 TBL packed brown sugar
1 tsp worcestershire

Brown first 4 ingredients, drain. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer for 15 minutes or until dinner is ready to serve.

That's it; super easy! Warning.... this makes quite a bit so it's good for family bbq's or gatherings. To finish the meal off we had grilled asparagus and homemade potato chips. It was fun, but I'm looking forward to exploring international cuisine again next week. Anyone want to make a suggestion as to a region or country? ~THosha

Week 1-Excercise

It's officially been a week since I made my public declaration about working out. As luck would have it, I got sick last Thursday which knocked me down for most of the weekend. But, being faithfull to my promise, I went ahead and did my weekly weigh in tonight. It was pretty frightful and discouraging seeing as I gained 3.7 pounds, but I will persevere! I was feeling somewhat better today though, so I did a 30 minute aerobic workout this morning, plus, I checked out the gym using my trial membership this evening. Two workouts in one day! Yes, I'm exhausted :) Here's looking forward to better results next week! I'll keep you posted.... ~ THosha

Been Sick

Poor excuse but true. I caught Trevin's yuck from last week and it knocked me down all weekend. Friday was exciting in that I had a job interview at Club Fit, the local health club hear in Canby. I met with a woman named Wendy and we had a pleasant chat. She's not looking to hire someone for a whole lot of hours right now, but that's fine by me. She also gave me a complimentary week trial membership. Hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow to actually go work out!

The weekend was pretty uneventfull with me not feeling so hot. Drew had his first baseball game which I was unfortunately unable to attend, but his team won and he said he played well. They have him playing first base this year which I think is the perfect position for him with his awareness and height. Tom and I worked on the garage on Sunday. You can actually walk though now and Tom did get a lot of his tools organized. We're still struggling to find room for everything. The garage has been the most difficult aspect of our move from the much larger house on Leland in Oregon City. Plus we had a basement and a garage, but we're still downsizing. We'll get there eventually.

Hope everyone has a great day and a fabulous week! ~THosha

Crazy Busy Day!

I almost didn't keep the stream going, but here I am after a busy day, finally signing in about my day. Drew's long awaited day had finally arrived. After getting all the little kids off to school, I went to the High School to pick Drew up for his first orthodontic appointment at 10 am. It was all preliminary stuff like x-rays and molds, but he's finally on his way. He's wanted them for so long! While we were there we asked about getting his teeth cleaned before the actual braces went on and as luck would have it, they had an appointment available later that afternoon at 1 pm. This gave us some down time so we came home and had some lunch and headed back out for his appointment. By the time I got home there were kids to pick up from school and grocery shopping to do for dinner. I was planning an early dinner because tonight was Mother/Son night at Carus for Austin and I. Therefore, I had to move international night to later this week and settled for breakfast for dinner instead. Mmmmmm... french toast.

By 6 pm Austin and I were off to his school for Bingo. I'm not a blue haired lady but I LOVE bingo! It was a lot of fun. Alas, neither Austin nor I came up with a win but the three other Mom/Son combos at our table managed to come up with two each so at least we got to bask in their glory :) All in all a fun but hectic day.

One final tidbit, I have a job interview tomorrow at 2pm. Everyone keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted on the outcome. Have a great night! ~ THosha

Day One - Excercise

So I braved the scale today to get my starting point. I have in the past avoided weighing myself seeing as it is strictly against "The Secret" aka The Law of Attraction to pay attention to that which goes against what you want to see manifest in your life. However, to know how far we come, we must have a starting point. Yes, it was pretty depressing. I weighed more than I did at delivery with Drew. Ok, face the music....I was 169 pounds of love! I pulled out my old excercise video called Core Rhythems and got busy shaking my little Non-Latin inspired butt. I have a new respect for Latin dancers. Its not the energy it takes to do the dance, its the ability to roll your hips. I'm not sure if it's my caucasian background or the fact that I have one leg longer than the other, but those figures eights were extremely difficult! Overall, I lasted about 20 minutes. Tomorrow I'm going for 25 minutes but more importantly, an improvement on my technique. Everything takes practice right?

It's not too late for those of you who want to join me on my quest for a thinner physique. Regardless, if I lose weight, I'll keeep you posted! ~ THosha

Excercise Anyone?

Not only is the Biggest Loser one of the most popular reality tv shows right now, I am also a huge fan. Therefore I am contemplating starting an excercise routine. Emphasis on the word routine. That is definately the part I struggle with. I often excercise, but it is always hit and miss. I always thought if I wasn't working then I would find the time. Here I am, almost 5 months into unemployment, and I still don't excercise regularly. I find that I need some motivation. Ultimately, I would like an excercise partner which forces the committment, but that doesn't seem in the cards for me right now so I propose this.... would anyone like to become an on-line partner? We could track our progress with a weekly weigh-in, motivate each other and give each other tips. Posting our weekly weigh-in results would give us the pressure needed to succeed. I would even be willing to post pictures to track our results. Does this interest anyone? If so, please comment me back, I'd love to hear from you! If no one responds, I'll try to keep you posted on my own results. Have a great day and pray for nice weather. I'm a little sick of the rain! ~ THosha

What Is PeopleString?

Happy Monday everyone! I trust you all had a safe and enjoyable Easter. Tom and I spent the day relaxing and watching movies. It seemed an appropriate choice with all the rain. On Saturday we kept trying to beat the rain. We'd go outside and plant a few things then it'd start pouring so we'd come inside. Fifteen minutes later it would clear up and we'd go outside for a bit again. It was funny. After the third try, we finally called it a day. Boy, April sure is living up to it's "April showers bring May flowers" motto :)

This weekend marked our first payment with PeopleString also. What is PeopleString you may ask? It is very similar to Facebook but the plus version. In fact, it has now become integrated with facebook and twitter so you can access both of those accounts from your PeopleString home page. It is free to join as with the others, however, it actually pays you to use their site. They pay us using 70% of the ad revenue generated by the site unlike facebook, myspace and twitter who keep all of that money themselves. I wanted to try it out for a bit to see if it is real and wow! it actually is. PeopleString also has discounts for most of the online shopping you may do. Network marketing your thing? This is definately a great resouce for that. Like I said, it's free and you can do any of the things you already do from home, but just get paid to do it. It's not a lot of money at first, but they do pay you $1.50 just to join. Check it out and see for yourself at ...

http://www.peoplestring.com/?u=thosha

Let me know what you think and I'll keep you posted on my results!

International Night

Approximately three weeks ago, Tom and I decided to institute an international night at our house. Every Thursday night we eat dinner focused on a certain country or regions cuisine. We talk about the food and the kids have to bring an uncommon fact to share about the country being represented. So far it has gone pretty well. Week one we did French food at Austin's suggestion because he is a huge fan of French bread :) Week two we did German food and last night I mixed it up and went with Croatia. The kids hadn't even heard of the country so it was a good choice. Dinner was really fun even though it took me forever to make! We had Pasticada which is a version of roast beef cooked stove top with tons of veggies and a delicious gravy. Then we had Strukli which is more of an pastry appetizer and swiss chard mixed with potatoes. In Croatia they use a lot of a seasoning called Vegeta. I could not find any locally, but it can be ordered. It's made mostly from dehydrated root vegetables with sugar, msg, nutmeg and cornstarch. I wish I had the time to order it to get the full effect but substituted with Mrs Dash and added the nutmeg and sugar myself. It's always fun to hear what the kids come up with and explore new foods. If you are interested in any of the recipes, let me know and I'll send them to you! I'll keep you posted on next weeks dinner! ~THosha

Found Josie!

Oh the irony of life! This morning, very early, Tom was not feeling well and being the kind man that he is, decided to come downstairs rather than disturb my slumber. So he's resting on the couch and suddenly hears a light scratching on the back sliding glass door. Instantly he knew what it was. He raced to the back door and there was little Josie! Of course he immediately let her in and raced upstairs with her in his arms to share with me the wonderful news of her return. He came straight into the bedroom and snapped the light on at 5AM. I have been dreaming of Josie returning almost every night so you can imagine my confusion in waking to see Tom holding a dirty Josie in his arms! But, oh happy day.... she has returned. I am so grateful to have her back home. She is pretty skinny and very dirty with some cuts and bruises. She is also limping, but overall okay. Exhausted, she has spent most of the day sleeping getting her much needed rest. Thanks for all the prayers for her safe return. I'll keep you posted on her progress ~ THosha

Lost Josie

It's officially been a week since our sweet little Josie industriously dug out of the yard. Last Tuesday while Tom and I were away dealing with towing the broken down Rav, Josie moved boulders and earth aside to dig under the fence. No one has seen her since. I've posted her on every lost dog website I can think of including CraigsList as well as posted signs around the neighborhood. I miss her so much and think about her constantly. I keep hearing stories of long lost pets, one even as long as ten years! and continue to have hope. She will come home to us soon!

If anyone can think of any other ideas to help bring her home faster, please comment. I would love to hear your suggestions. If she turns up, I'll keep you posted.

Fallen Behind!

Oh My Goodness! It's halfway through March already! So much to share.....

First, following the last post, we took the kids to Mt Hood before all the snow melted and went tubing at Ski Bowl. They had a ball! I was so proud of little Ainsley; I thought for sure she would be too scared to go down the hill but she did it. She went tandem with Dad the first time, but after that she was on her own! Wow! I was impressed. We packed a lunch and had a snow fight. I recorded most of it. They grow up so fast. The sun was shining and we had an absolutely beautiful day.

The next weekend was just Tom and I on our own. We had an experience. An experience I will call....Justification. Why? I am now fully justified as to why I don't watch scary movies! Here's the story..... So we were browsing for affordable plants on Craigslist seeing as retail prices are entirely too ridiculous for a rental and found a posting for 4 to 5 foot trees for only $8. Those of you who have graced a retail nursery know what a great deal this is so Tom gave the lady a call. She was extremely pleasant on the phone and warned, however, that they were quite a ways out there past Sandy, Or. Being another beautiful day, we set out with high hopes, but looking forward to a nice drive regardless. Using GPS, we were able to find their 'home' north of Highway 26 on the way to Mt Hood. Driving in, there was a young boy around the age of 9 or 10 waving enthusiastically in front of a somewhat old and dilapidated trailer. As we were getting out, the boy said, "Hi! You're the third customer today!" Tom commented to me how cute that was. Then he ran inside to get his father who was the propietor of this illustrious business. Tom and I were looking around at the heavily treed property trying to figure out what exactly was for sale when the Dad came out with the boy and an older son of 15. Okay, has anyone seen the movie The Hills Have Eyes? That is what is running through my mind right about now as we were confronted with a man of about 45 years old and 6'3" tall. He had light orange, shaggy hair with giant chops and bottle cap glasses. To add to the overall effect, he's holding his arm crooked up and walking with a limp wearing a heavily stained white sweatshirt, jeans and work boots. At this point, I'm ready to jump in the car and race out of there; I'm seriously considering that we may not make it out.

The man introduces himself and says how he fell off a 14 foot ladder, hence the arm and limp and would we mind if his boys tag along in order to help us out. I'm thinking, sure, do you mean someone who came earlier was trying to escape and you got injured in the tussle! Then he asks if we'd like the grand tour. Like the idiots on scary movies whom we scream at, "Don't go in there!" we proceeded to follow him around his property to look at the many trees he had actually planted from seed. He told us all about the different varieties and yes, they were only $8. He could have sold them for so much more, but was just happy to get $8.

At this point we're getting a little more comfortable with him, but still a little creeped out by the oldest son who is following us silently everywhere. Then Tom asks him if he has any ferns and he says yes, maybe a few, but they're over here and starts to lead us down a path. I comment on an eagle carving he has perched on top of a log and he explains how he is an amateur carver. Then he stops at a large wooden shed. Outside is a cage with half eaten lettuce and other vegetables inside. I walk over to look and ask what's inside. They tell me rabbits. I looked quite thoroughly in that cage but there were no rabbits to be found! Then caged beside the shed was a beautiful dog. I walked over to pet him through the fence. Now, I've pet a lot of dogs in my day and I have never pet a dog who didn't move or respond to being pet in any way. He didn't wag his tail, he didn't try to sniff my hand, he didn't look at me, nothing! Creepy. Now the guy is leading Tom into the shed and I'm thinking this is it, he's going to chop us up in little pieces now. I refused to go into the shed and remained in the doorway so the son couldn't slam the door shut behind us. It turns out, the shed is wear he does all of his carving and he just wanted to show us some of his pieces. Tom told me later how creeped out by the whole shed experience. When he walked in it was pitch black and Tom hovered in the dooorway as well, waiting for the man to turn the light on.

Once we left the shed, I asked the oldest son where he went to school living way out here. Yep, you guessed, they're home schooled. No social interaction with the outside world. I ask if he uses the internet for his studies and the dad replies that they only use the internet for their business because they're too scared of all the cookies and spam you get. Ok.

Honestly, everything is seeming creepy at this point right down to the "You're the third customer today!" greeting we received from the youngest boy on our arrival and we were most assuredly ready to get out of there.

After looking at a few more trees, we made our choices and left feeling as if we had just escaped with our lives. Neither of us had said anything to the other during our visit about how we were thinking, but both were having the same exact thoughts!

The moral to this story...the family was just a little socially awkward and shame on us for watching too many scary movies and assuming bad things about people! However, the experience was one we will remember and laugh over always and we got a great bargain on some trees!

That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed our story. Spring break is coming up next week so I'll keep you posted! ~Shannon

Tuesday, At Home

Well, Tom and I had a pretty quiet weekend. Hope everyone else did too!

Drew had his Winter Formal Dance. He was running late so I was only allowed one picture :) He had an okay time. He's a pretty typical teenager so I don't always get a whole lot of information out of him. This week is baseball tryouts for High School so he's been a little anxious, but stoked to be playing his sport again.

Trevin and Austin are still progressing with MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). Today the coach told Trevin he's going to really focus on moving him up into higher levels of boxing and sparring in order to promote him into some kind of tournament or fight. This was very exciting for him!

Zane is having grandma Rita come visit his school on Friday for grandparents day. He is looking forward to this. Kids always enjoy something out of the norm at school. Tomorrow I am volunteering for the book fair at his school as well.

Then we come to little Ainsley. She has really become my little partner in crime these days, with Tom at work and all the other kids still at school. She only goes to pre-school 2 hours a day, and 3 days a week so we have a lot of time at home together. We try to keep each other entertained. She has become quite the proficient shopper!

This weekend, Tom and I are hoping to do something fun and affordable with the kids. I'd love to hear of any ideas anyone has....

I"ll keep you posted,

THosha

Just Starting Out

I feel like I'm always late in the world of technology as if the gun went off to start the race and I'm still leaning over to tie my shoe. I'm confident this is a sign of my age. Why then do I still feel like a kid trying to figure it all out?

So here I am blogging. I'm such a nerd that I actually went to the library and picked out several books to read on the subject :) It was exciting to learn where the word 'blog' came from. (The whole thing evolved from 'web log' for the less enlightened such as myself) I'm starting it mostly for friends and family who want to keep up with this crazy family of ours. I won't promise a post every day, but will try to keep you updated.

I'll keep you posted! THosha