Mommy's day off

Today I shirked my mommy duties and left the house right around 10:00 A.M. and didn't return until 3:00 P.M. Spa day? Not exactly. I joined a couple of friends for a cooking class/demonstration at a great place in Reno call "Nothing to It Culinary Center." (http://www.nothingtoit.com/) This is a great place to go and learn how to cook a new cuisine, practice cooking techniques, and relax. So far I've taken classes including Thai cooking, Crepes, Gourmet Crock pot, Tex Mex, Tapas, and today....Fix, Freeze, and Feast(http://www.fixfreezefeast.com/).

Each class has come with an accompanying cookbook and delicious food during the class time. Today's class was all about fixing mass quantities of entrees to freeze and then pull out at a later date to enjoy. The cookbook was written by two women who started one of those Dream Dinners/My Girlfriend's Kitchen sort of places where customers show up, use the pre-chopped, pre-measured ingredients to put together a meal, package it up, and take it home to their freezer. A couple moms I know swear by these sort of places and were sure since I love to cook that I had to go. I guess they didn't realize that when I cook, I COOK. I make lots of different things, I try new recipes all the time, and I don't need someone to cut everything up for me and send me through an assembly line. That's not cooking.

I will definitely give credit to these savvy ladies who came up with the scheme. It's brilliant and a great way to help busy and or inexperienced cooks get something other than take out on their families' dinner tables. As far as my new cookbook goes, I am thrilled to have some tried and true recipes for meals that will freeze well for future use. That's been my biggest challenge. I like making lots and having meals ready to go for hectic days but I wasn't always sure that I should freeze the things I was tossing in the freezer. Now I have a great guide to help me stock up. And I got almost an entire day off! Thanks, Brian :)

Night Owls & Early Birds

It seems that Sam is finally getting the hang of going to sleep on his own. Usually it takes a few minutes of fussing (sometimes up to 20 minutes) but in the end he snoozes fairly well. Okay, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself....if he's not in pain from the 2 new teeth trying to come in, he is doing well. Poor peanut.
The other night after a short fuss fest all seemed peaceful. Brian and I went about our usual evening chores in the living room and kitchen and went upstairs to retire to the den across the hall from the boys' room. As I walked past the kids' door I heard an unfamiliar noise. At first I was worried that our creaky stairs had woken one of the boys. As I pressed my ear to the door I heard a small snuffle and squeak...it turned out to be Sam snoring. That same night I awoke to a voice coming from the boys' room. This is not uncommon as Ben often calls for me in the night if he is unable to find his pacifier (yep, I know, the kid is almost 2 1/2...we're trying to get rid of the darn thing) or wakes up after a dream.
But the voice I heard this night was different. It was conversational. Who was in our house? How did they get in? My heart raced as I waited to hear it again. Then there it was, "I don't want Sam to play with it." After a huge sigh of relief that it was only Ben I had to smile. The poor kid not only talks in his sleep but even then is trying to keep his stuff from his little brother's curious hands.
Now that I know what noises belong to each kid I am sleeping better. That is, when I'm not snoring or talking in my sleep (according to Brian). I can only defend myself by saying everyone snores when they have a stuffy nose and you really can't say I talk in my sleep until you've heard my sister.
After a "good" night's sleep I try as hard as I can to stay in bed as long as possible. I wonder how a girl who is not and has never been much of a morning person ended up with two early bird kids. Oh wait, it's genetic, their dad is an early bird too! Brian is often out riding his bike early in the morning or being productive in some other manner. Not me. I will stay in bed until I absolutely have to get up. Lately that means ignoring the conversation between Ben and Sam in their room with Sam in the crib and Ben sitting in his bed (still not quite sure why he won't get out without permission but it's working for us). Yesterday morning the conversation went something like this (once I was awake enough to pay attention anyway):
Sam: "Dadadadada...nanananana!"
Ben: "Sam, look over here! Sam look at me!"
Sam: "Aaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Ben: "No yelling, Sam. Look at me."
Sam: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Ben: "No no no no no no no no!"
This is about the time I went in wondering why Ben was saying "no" repeatedly. Sam was standing up in the crib with his little hands wrapped around the side rail with a big grin on his face (nothing looked suspicious enough to warrant the No's) and Ben was sitting on his bed just watching Sam. They were both happy and ready to start the day. Give me strength.

Dad's new assistants

Both Ben and Sam are drawn to computers, keyboards, monitors, cables, and anything else electronic. Ben even has his own setup at Dad's office to "work" and "send emails." Sam likes to get in on the action now and then too. Notice the keyboard is upside down....that darn ergonomic wrist support thing gets in the way! (Photos courtesy of Jon Davis)

Ben says the darndest things

Here is a small sampling of Ben's latest quips:

"The moon looks like a penny and a ball. It's a circle."

Upon seeing the full moon over the lake, "Is it time to cover the lake up now for the nightime?" He knows it's standard procedure to cover the pool at night. "They would have to cover over the mountains too."

"I love Sam. He is my friend."

While holding his baby doll Ben pulled his shirt up over his tummy, put the doll to his chest and said, "I am feeding Sarah from my breast like you Mommy. She is hungry."

While on the swings at the park, "The trees are swinging with me!"

Demo Day!

We are starting the process of making some improvements in the condo. We decided to start with new windows throughout the house and build in an entertainment center/storage in the living room. For anyone who has visited our home you may remember the monstrosity of an entertainment center/random cabinet system we had before. Well, after this morning I am proud to say it's GONE!!!!!! So is the gas fireplace we had but never used. I didn't know our living room could look and feel so big. Our next step is having the windows replaced and around the same time we will be putting in the custom cabinets and media center, bench seats with storage along the lower portion of the windows, and a corner unit where the fireplace was that will be our office in condensed form.

I learned three things while getting ready for the cabinet demo:

1.) We have A LOT of stuff and junk.

2.) A good portion of the stuff and junk is the kids'

3.) I am not very good at dusting.

The before and after pictures can justify numbers 1 and 2, but not #3 thankfully :)

And the old cabinets were put to good use in the accounting office at St. Patrick's Church.

Picnic on the Peninsula

A friend emailed us on Friday inviting us to a get-together at Burnt Cedar beach. The plan was for several families to have a good old-fashioned picnic for dinner on Sunday. The location was a grassy jetty/peninsula at the beach. I think it was originally built to create a calm swimming area for beach-goers. We joined about ten other families/couples for the picnic and enjoyed great food and company. We took some mini pizzas I made that were topped with fresh pesto and a variety of veggies on a whole wheat crust. Yum! We also sampled a variety of salads, and side dishes as well as some elk steak from a successful hunting trip in Eastern Nevada that one of our friends had. Ben and most of the other kids spent the majority of their time playing on the rocks and the beach while the adults and babies hung out in the grass. It's funny because our family happened to put our blanket out right on the spot where Brian proposed to me.

We all had lots of fun, filled our bellies, and stayed until the nearly full moon was rising. Sam loved hanging with his little friend Chloe who is his junior at only 14 weeks old. She seemed to like him too.

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!

Our typical Sunday often includes a bike ride up Mount Rose for Brian while I try to wrangle the boys into the tub and get everyone ready for church. This Sunday we decided to bypass the visit to church mainly because we are all just now feeling back to normal after a week of cold/allergy symptoms and have no desire to go through that all again. The parishioners at St. Patrick's (http://tahoeepiscopal.org/) are a very loving group and they flock to our kids during the greeting portion of the service. I can't say that this is how we all picked up the cold bug but it's certainly a possibility. Needless to say, we chose an alternate community activity for this Sunday...The Washoe County Sheriff's picnic and Lifesaver's Appreciation Day at the Village Green.

Several agencies were present to help the community understand the role they play in everyday emergencies and disaster preparedness. There were fire trucks, rescue boats, all terrain vehicles, bomb squad units, K-9 units, the fire department training tower, SWAT vehicles and gear, and HELICOPTERS!!!!! There was also a barbecue for everyone and a bouncy house for the kids in the Aspen Grove picnic area.

Ben had a great time climbing into and on lots of the vehicles and bouncing in the bouncy house. But above all he loved the helicopters. He politely asked the pilot of the medical emergency helicopter if he could sit inside and was thrilled with the positive response. Sam chose to nap for much of the excitement.

Following our barbecue lunch, Brian and Ben watched a demonstration with one of the K-9 units with a Sheriff's dog taking down a "perpetrator." They used a percussion grenade to signal the dog as they might in a real situation. Following that the bomb squad detonated a couple of things with a huge crowd looking on. We watched alongside Santa Claus, a local in Incline, fellow parishioner at St. Pat's, children's advocate, and Presidential write-in candidate (http://www.santaslink.net/). He also chose to miss the church service to be at the picnic (his reason was much more commendable as he was there as part of Incline's Community response team for disasters).

More Feats of Engineering

It seems like just the past few days that Ben and Sam have been playing together without getting into as many scuffles. Except for the occasional tower getting knocked down prematurely, we're all good.

It all adds up

Yesterday Ben and I accompanied Sam to his 9 month check-up at the pediatrician's office. Sam's latest stats are as follows:

Weight: 18 lbs. 6 oz. (he's the 25th percentile of the national average for babies his age)

Length: 27 1/8 inches (also 25th percentile)

Head circumference: 46 cm (70th percentile!)

The pediatrician said that he's not surprised about any of these stats as both Brian and I are shorties (not his exact words) and intelligent people (his words exactly!). He also said that Sam is ahead of lots of babies his age with his vocalization and his motor skills. He actually pushed the Radio Flyer wagon across the living room a few days ago! Super baby!

Bubbles!!! Blocks!!!

One of the boys' favorite past times this summer has been bubble blowing. Brian can keep them amused forever while I just end up feeling light-headed. Give me blocks to build towers any day.

BBQ with the Neighbors

We've lived here for a while now and see our neighbors regularly but seldom exchange more than a few words (other than Sylviane and I who are fellow book clubbers). Therefore, Brian took matters into his own hands and rallied the residents of our building for a barbecue offering up burgers and chicken. I set out to make burger patties for the group along with a broccoli salad and marinated chicken breasts. And I worried the entire time whether there would be enough food. I quickly realized that the two packages of ground beef I picked up at the market were more than adequate as eighteen burgers soon piled up in one of my largest pans and eight chicken breasts filled another. I am truly my mother's daughter when it comes to cooking for a crowd.....if anyone goes hungry it's their own fault. Unfortunately, only three out of the twelve units, including us, were able to attend. Let's just say that I have several packages of uncooked burgers in my freezer for future use.

But, on the bright side of things, the neighbors who did attend (Travis and Sylviane & Steve and Jackie) were great company and we all had fun. And, yes, they all brought a side dish or dessert so we definitely weren't going to starve.

Ben especially had fun playing with Jackie riding his tricycle.

Introducing....

After another playdate with Sam's playgroup we have decided on a name.....Lake Tahoe Little Twigs.
There were several options that reflected our area and the fact that our babies are simply adorable but it was tough to find just the right name. The biggest thing we had to keep in mind is that this is the name that will follow our little ones until they begin kindergarten. One of my friends with an older son in Ben's playgroup and a younger son in Sam's said if it were named after her kid the group would be "Big Head Cody and the Monsters." Hilarious. I said they could save that one for high school when they start up a garage band.
I suggested the name Little Twigs as it seemed appropriate that our kiddos are the smallest branches on their family trees and live here where big trees are abundant. Ben gave me the idea as he sat in the tub one evening with a toy watering can pouring water over his belly. He said, "I am watering me so I can grow up to be a big tree." Thanks, big brother!
It also helps that a friend of one of the moms in our group has a baby care line called Little Twig whose motto is "Nurturing Families Organically." The products are a big hit with the moms who have tried them too. Check them out at www.littletwig.com

Music Appreciation

Ben has always been all about music which thrills us, especially considering that he could be all about TV. A couple of weekends ago I had Sam with me putting laundry away while Brian and Ben were hanging out. Did I mention that the amount of laundry a family produces grows exponentially with each child? Anyway, Brian and Ben were in the den with the stereo on listening to Jethro Tull, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and others. Apparently they were trying to find songs/artists that have very clear instrumental parts so Ben could hear the flutes or the drums. You get the picture. The thing that set this listening session apart from all others to date was that they were both lying on their backs on the floor, just listening. Ben was smiling and Brian was singing along. It was a truly perfect father/son moment. Brian then said it reminded him of college...huh? While in his frat house at Stanford it seems that there were a group of guys who would hang out in one room occupied by Mike Funk, a true music lover with a huge sound system to boot. They would just chill with the music. This came to be known as "Music Appreciation."

Ben loves listening to music with Daddy but would rather just play along very loudly with Mommy....I guess I don't have the depth of music knowledge that he needs. He sets up his own drum set using a variety of instruments and goes to town. He even puts out a music book from a kids' music class we took months ago. His favorite artists/songs lately are The BoDeans/Good Things (known to Ben as the drumming song because it's a live version that wrapped up a show), and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers/Free Falling (first heard by Ben during the Super Bowl halftime show this year and a favorite ever since).

Sam on the other hand is mostly about standing up these days, using anything he can as a platform.....like the box for the music stuff.

I'll do it by myself!

Ben is becoming more and more independent each day. He used to always want assistance with things but now it's all about him taking care of himself. Does this take some work off the shoulders of Mommy and Daddy? Not so much.

For example, "My underwear are dry! I need to use the potty by myself." Fast forward two minutes....."Mommy, there's pee all over!"

And, "I want to put my socks on." For any of you not familiar with two year-olds and socks, this can be pretty humorous but often leads to major frustration. And it doesn't help that we haven't been wearing socks for about three months now since the weather dictates sandals or barefeet.

But, when it comes to helping with Sam's bottle, that's a different story. They both get a kick out of it.