Sunday, December 20, 2009

18mo

I was reading over at a fav. blog of mine, where Faith, a mommy of four posted a love letter/birthday note to her youngest son and was inspired.

DH set up an e-mail account for Noah when he was born so we could start filling his inbox with love letters or silly memories of him. One day he can read them and remember himself as we remember him.

Until then, I thought I would share the most recent one I sent.

HI little Bug,

You are so sweet and cute, the way you snuggle up to me and pat my back as I hold you. Or you find my ears with both your hands and your eyes. Or you find my nose and point to it, telling me what it is as if I don't know.

We play fun games in the car, I say words you know, then you repeat them back. Last night we kept going and going, bread, milk, a ball- since you never just say "ball", waffle, buffalo, owl, hawk, dog, water, magazine, please, juice, happy, birthday, you tried to say anniversary too, that was cute.

Today you learned how to say "please" when you were asking or shall I say begging for more yummy scone at Cafe Latte. You learned to say "magazine" too when you wanted us to know that you wanted to read about the spa tubs that we were shopping around for. We'd just visited a bathroom showroom place where you happily entertained yourself by lifting the lids of all the toilets, as if you were expecting to see something different in the next one you lifted. You also managed to "drop" the color chart for something in a filled whirlpool. DH managed to forget to take it out. Perhaps it's still bathing.

Now you are awake, it's 9:24am on the Sunday after my surprise 30th bday party- we went to church at 4:30 yesterday and I am e-mailing you while you happily chatter in your crib, and bark and talk.

It sounds like you are saying "walk" now so perhaps I should let you out of your crib and let you get on with your busy day!

you make my heart melt, I love you,

Mommy

Friday, December 11, 2009

announcing new posts here, and at 2 TC foodies

Check the sidebar list for our other blog about food. I've been meal-planning, and cooking. Yum.

first

second

Both quite good in very different ways.

He loves mommy's cocoa


He loves mommy's cocoa
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
After a cold traipse through the winter blizzard nothing warms a toddler
tummy like mommy's hot cocoa- I make it with actual cocoa, not those
pre-sweetened preservative filled mixes in an envelope or tub. Can you tell
I'm biased?:)

Everyone sits on capri sun boxes, right?

What better place for a snack, than a box-seat. Poor buddy has a nasty cold
and possibly windburned cheeks. But he's managing it fairly well, and so far
has only shared it with me, and not Daddy.

17 months old, nearly 18 months


17 months old, nearly 18 months
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
He is so funny, and fun. He went out to play in the snow after the big
snowstorm and he wasn't so sure about it. He loves his boots, and asks us to
put them on while he plays with his toys inside. He also loves oven mitts,
and wants to help us bake after donning them. We love him so much!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Can you find the animal?


Can you find the animal?
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
I can't either. All I see is a cute puppy. It was really interesting when we
saw the Lynx on the MN Trail- Noah had just fallen forward and it piqued the
Lynx's curiosity. The Lynx wandered over to the glass by him, and started
pawing furiously at the glass right in front of Noah. It pawed several
times, then retreated to the side and watched him from a distance. I don't
know if the lynx thought, hey, there's a puppy intruding into my territory,
if it just wanted to play.

Checking out the coral reef


Checking out the coral reef
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Look- there's 2 dogs now!

Found a leaf and a snack


Found a leaf and a snack
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
We were impressed he could still walk well in his costume as a puppy. He
trotted on through the Tropics trail on foot. Except for when he'd say 'uuu"
and wanted to be up in our arms.

Puppy grabs a snack


Puppy grabs a snack
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
At HallZOOeen at the MN Zoo.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Thursday, October 01, 2009

First corn on the cob, Wed. 9-30-09

He liked it, too. My mom was helping him hold it horizontally to eat it, he
wanted to gnaw on the end of it instead.

He's going to be a puppy for Halloween

My Aunt found this great costume at Marshall's for $16.99. Seems like
everything there was that price. I found some cute shirts there too. The
puppy costume was irresistible- well, Noah was irresistible in it!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Knitting extravaganza!

6 of us knitter people descended upon a little town in WI, for a Knitting Extravaganza. But first, we engaged in a tasty walleye and blue gills fish fry, a cabin slumber party and a tasty raspberry jam and fresh blueberries pancake breakfast.

For 15 dollars, we had a day full of 4 knitting speakers, a room full of yarn and pattern vendors, and a delicious three course lunch. DH's grandma had saved the newspaper clipping advertising it for me, since she thought I might be interested in it.

One speaker, from Blackberry Hills, taught us how to dye our own yarn, safely. Nora Murphy, an author read to us from her book, "Knitting the Threads of Time" telling us about the birth of her first sweater, knit with love for her son. Another tried to shift our concept of knitting mistakes into knitting assets and design features. She offered a good point to think about, but I will still rip back and fix my mistakes whenever I need to do so. The last spoke about her heartwarming tales of receiving and giving prayer shawls and knitting hats given to classroom students.

We had a great time while listening and knitting and were all able to deepen our bonds through countless discussions with depth that far surpassed our coffeeshop knitting times. We would even do it again next year.

Thank you knitter friends for coming to an unfamiliar place for an unknown event- and Thanks mom and dad for the use of your cabin in the woods! We all appreciated it!

skirts, pitchforks, and compost, oh my!

Meant to be read to the Wizard of Oz tune, Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

And Urgent care...Oops. I was being oh, so domestic in my denim skirt and handknit tank as I tended our compost bins with the pitchfork. Dh had been gone for 3 days last week, so I was the Noah-watcher round the clock. In the interest of keeping busy and entertained we began taking care of our plants by watering them, feeding the birds birdseed, and watering and stirring our compost to help it decay quicker. All these things were benefiting from the extra attention, but not without a problem.

Yesterday while wearing a skirt my pitchfork brushed against my bare leg. I looked down. It hurt a little. There was a little blood, but not dripping blood. No problem. I put some neosporin on and a band-aid. No big deal.

It hurt a little more in the morning, and was a little redder. After a girls small group get together at 9, and church at 11, it was time to go to urgent care.

The Dr. wanted to send me home on 5 days of antibiotics, which I balked at. Bad things can happen- like the dreaded girly problem, yeast issues. He reassured me, he'd give me a prescription for meds for that too. (I really hate it when med, after med gets prescribed since it gets out of hand so fast- and I think it's ridiculous). I pleaded with him for the most conservative treatment- and no drugs. He left for a few minutes, and came back and said that I could instead just put the bacitracin on 2x's a day with a new band-aid and leave it open to the air at night. He said to come back if it gets redder. That I could handle.

So, now I am trying not to obsess over whether it's redder or not, and just trying to take care of it.

The two morals of the story are- girls in skirts shouldn't use pitchforks, and do, do, do, be your own advocate for your health care. You know your own body better than them. But still, listen to what they say first.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

The back


The back
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.

the inner regions


the inner regions
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
With the fabric coordinating pockets and sock knitting pouch.

Sqeeeeeeeeeeee! New bag alert!


Sqeeeeeeeeeeee! New bag alert!
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Splatgirl has been hard at work, making me, a bag. DH sponsored much of the
endeavor as an anniversary gift. I had originally told him I wanted some
diamond earrings but then I thought, when will I see them except for when I
take them out or put them in. Maybe, everyone I know should get diamond
earrings because then I could actually see them, right? Or maybe just my
closest friends, or people I see often enough. Well, scratch that. Then I
got to thinking after seeing Splatgirl at a Lake Minnetonka Fest selling her
beautiful handmade goods, that I want a bag instead.

So here it is. I tried to imagine it, and I was even kind of nervous to see
it. I was so excited, that I had to stop trying to picture what it would
look it.

Then, today I saw it. Wow. I didn't' really know what to say. It was so "me"
silver, bright colors, silver hardware, and as unique as can be. I could
never have imagined it. It's really incredible. And it has a little
coordinating pouch inside for my sock knitting projects. Maybe I will have
to go cast on a sock for the purse. Hmmm...I think it should color
coordinate, I have a lot of yarn in my stash that would accent it well.
Thanks so much Splatgirl- you outdid yourself- it is AMAZING!

I did math for it


I did math for it
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
So I got carried away with my soapbox on the virtues of canning. This pic is
of the math I did to fix the other jam. I pulled out the electric scale,
weighed a bowl, zeroed it out, then added jam. To that figure I divided by
16 to find out how many ounces I had. Then, I used the recipe equation to
find out how much sugar to add. I used a pen and paper, and my brain.

Jam for breakfast, jam for lunch...

So, I canned jam till the wee hours of the night on Monday. I never tasted
it. I just trusted the "local plum jam" recipe. I tasted it a few days
later. I didn't like it. Ooops.

Dh brought it in to his work where the computer programmer foodies offered
some helpful advice. Sweeten it more. So I did. I had been trying to go the
healthy route, and had sweetened it very lightly.

So, Friday night, I canned the rest. 4 more lbs. of plum jam, canned. IT
went really fast since I had the jam made already and just had to heat it to
a boil, then boil the jars and simmer the lids. Piece of cake. Sometimes
your own tastebuds can get in the way, and you have to outsource those of
others for feedback, and in this case, moral support. I am now confident of
this jam being better, and I'm building up my canning skills as this was the
third time I've canned on my own. It's kind of addictive...The sounds of the
little jars cooling to the point where the jar seals itself with the most
satisfying smack your lips kind of pop, in turn with the idea of preserved
food that doesn't take up fridge or freezer space how can anyone resist?!

I must say initially I was not intrigued by canning at all. DH actually got
me interested in it. Last year for a special birthday present to him I
arranged canning lessons with his mom's best friend, a veteran canner. But
now I'm hooked. What else can I can? Or shall I say "fresh preserve" as the
domestic skill seems to have been rebranded.

There should have been 3


There should have been 3
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
My best girlfriend and I enjoyed these from Rainbow Foods the other day.
Next to each other they really represent "the girls." I couldn't resist.

Trying out a great garage sale find

My MIL found this on a garage sale, and thought of us. She said that "since
we are always on the go, it might come in handy sometime." Was she ever
right. We used it at stitch 'n bitch last week, and yesterday at a different
coffee shop. We visited Perks, a local coffee shop and I looked around for a
high chair, then asked for one. They didn't have one. I panicked briefly and
then reassured, I remembered this was in my car. Super handy, easy to clean.
Awesome. Thanks MIL!

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Little landscaper


Little landscaper
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Enjoys removing the rocks and mulch, and relocating them to less visually
desirable locations.

Plum hunting and gathering


Plum hunting and gathering
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.

hunter and gatherer and chocolate fest

Last week I was hunting for bargains on canning jars and supplies. Saturday I was gathering, using the apple picker to select fresh big apples, and later crouching around on my hands and knees gathering plums from the in-laws plum trees.

Shortly after I had unearthed far too many plums, like 3 ice cream gallon pails worth, I noticed that my legs were itchy. It didn't take long for me to sprout an itchy rash up and down my legs.

I told DH that we needed to go be busy so I would be distracted from the angry burning feelings. So we went to Town and Country Days in Shell Lake, WI. We caught the tail end of the "chocolate fest" held at the historical society building.

What exactly is a chocolate fest? My curiosity was piqued, and just had to find out. I had fantasies about all kinds of gourmet chocolate, like the kinds I fell in love with in San Francisco. But I reigned in my expectations, and brought them back to earth and decided that a chocolate fest would entail some exhibits and some history on chocolate, with tastes of bittersweet and dark and milk varieties, just to train the taste buds to notice the subtle differences in flavors.

Instead, it was neither of these. It was a few older ladies wearing vintage floral aprons sitting in chairs behind a few small tables of all kinds of bars and cupcakes that were chocolate. Pick up a paper plate, load it with your selected goodies, and then hand it to the older man to pay for the treats.

It was really quite charming, and nothing like I'd expected. Noah and I shared 2 chocolate cupcakes with white centers. I'd made some just like them before, and they were just as good. And that was the chocolate fest.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Friday funnies and tmi

The other day I tried the Starbucks Vivanno smoothie. It was the chocolate banana one. It definitely tasted healthy, but not in a bad way. I didn't know anything about it before I drank it.
Funny how drinking a healthy drink has a way of letting you know its ingredients without reading the label.

I debated about posting this, but I will look at it as a PSA of sorts.

sort of too much info= read at your own risk about body functions

I had guessed there was protein in there. Check. Then, perhaps fiber. This I knew once I felt gassy. And as soon as I drank it I had to pee. Then, I had to pee again, 2 more times over the course of 2 1/2 hours. Apparently there's fiber powder in it also. I had to google what I had drank, and found this site. It never told me how much fiber was it it though. If you've seen the SNL sketch with the Jamie Lee Curtis Activia, you will know a little bit about how it went. If you haven't seen this funny commercial, give it a look.

Despite all the untimely effects, there are 18 grams of protein in there- amazing!

Thursday, September 03, 2009

State Fair cake, from Tobie's in Hinkley, MN

It is a little dog. My mom ate it's tail before I took this pic. It's not a
corgi.

Dairy queen's Sept. blizzard

I am a Blizzard fan club member. Aren't you? Every now and then they give e-mail coupons. This month there's a dollar off this month's blizzard. Oreo Cookie Jar.

Oreos are good, sure. But then add cookie dough. OH, how about that addictive fudge sauce, too.

uhoh. Good thing we have a membership to the zoo, I know where the mall of america is, and my walking program started up again. And I have a toddler to chase.

This blizzard sounds too good to be true. I have friends that have validated its goodness. Mmm.

thursday's thoughts

These are the only ones I had today. haha.

I'd been almost getting bored with my knitting. That happens when you are knitting a wonderful wallaby sweater for your son out of unwonderful acrylic yarn that you felt compelled to use though it was supposed to be for a former co-worker's baby's sweater. Oops.

I was knitting on it, and I just didn't like how the knitted fabric was turning out. It was a little holey in places, and it bugged me visually. So I zzzz'ed it on my ravelry page. Really, I just pulled out the needles and closed it up into my acrylic yarn stash bin.

Then, I was fixing up my green tank. I finally got fed up with the 80's look that is tank straps sliding off my shoulders. Kelle helped me fix it after I had ripped back too far on the neckline, and together all the stray stitches were found. I reknit that ribbing part on size 2's. DK weight cotton yarn, Reynolds Saucy, to be exact.

But then, on my ever continuing quest to finish old projects, I plodded along to completion on a cotton fan stitch dishcloth. What a joy it was to bind off that puppy at knitting group yesterday.

Brings the tally to:
1- felted mancala (ran out of yarn, so I bought 3 new skeins of Cascade 220 at Borealis yesterday)
2-Owls 2
3-leaf lace shawl (need to find the pattern back, Noah, did you hide it?)
4-crocheted red heart bib
5-thrummed mittens (need to figure out the gauge, and rip them back for the 3rd time!)
6-stuff a bunny nugget and sew him closed and weave in last tails
7-Weave in tails for tank

Since I am going to the cabin again, and not driving this time, I plan to get a lot of this done in the car. Last time I drove both ways since mom was coming and DH was in CO.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

dishwasher canning

Noah and I were returning from meeting a friend at the park, and I overheard my neighbor across the street talking about canning. I heard that she was making her tomato sauce so it would be ready to use, instead of just canning the tomatos by themselves.

So we walked across the street, and I told her about my eavesdropping and learned her hints. She uses the dishwasher to heat her jars, then pulls a few out at a time and fills them, tops them, and continues. She said she's never had a problem doing it this way. So, I did a little more research online, and DH and I gave this system a go.

For whatever reason our dishwasher seemed to spend 2 hours washing the newly purchased jars and bands, and my spaghetti sauce bubble away, and reduced itself significantly by the time the jars were in their drying cycle.

Our kitchen currently holds our 4 quarts of sauce, and 1 quart of plain crushed tomatos. There was about 3/4 of a jar leftover of tomatos, not enough to can, so we will have to use them up in some tasty recipe this week.

OH, did I mention this was our first time canning on our own? Dh is waiting for the lids to pop downstairs. Hope it works!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Spa relaxation

Totally unrelated to the deodorant bit, but I went to the Spa today. First I exercised and walked, jogged, and ran on the treadmill. I hadn't jogged or ran for months. I went in the hot tub, and followed it up with the Kohler Experience shower.

This shower has 4 heads, one directly above your head like a waterfall, then another like a normal shower, and three more square heads in a vertical line at shoulder height on down. There was a laminated instruction plaque that I removed from the shower door and took into the shower with me, so I could figure it out. The keypad for it looked like an IPOD. There was a blue display a few buttons and a large dial. I tried out most of the settings. It was quite good, and had excellent water pressure. You could even select your temperature, 101-102 degrees for me. Ahh.

Then, I quick snacked on some mini animal crackers and drank the lime spa water till my appt. DH had bought me a gift certificate for Christmas, and since there was a discount available this week, their very own deal on a stick ala State Fair, it was time to use it. I had a 100 min MN river rock massage. Those hot rocks feel amazing with massage oil and a skilled masseuse. 'Twas uber relaxing:) Thanks DH!

did u know?

That deodorant expires? I had used up one, and went to my stash of 4 more, a girl can't smell bad- it's like an unspoken rule, and used it. It seemed to smell weird, like, the scent smelled acidic or off in some way like it had gone bad. I used it for 3 more days, still smelled the same. It was the same spring breeze fragrance I always buy. So I read the labels and learned that it had expired last year. I always buy the bonus packs too, of the buy two at a time for a better deal. I had to throw out 3 more. Yuck.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Grandma took him to JcPenney's to get his pic taken

But they were booked up that day.

FO= Liesl


FO= Liesl
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
This is a great sweater, but I have to lengthen the sleeves. They keep
"growing" shorter the more I wear it. This happened with another sweater of
mine, a bulky green one. I am still counting it as a finished object, but
having to add it to the "fix/felt/block" list that I have going. I am
tightening up the neckband on my green tank, need to lengthen the Liesl's
sleeves, fix a hole in my Fuzzy feet slippers, complete the work on a red
re-purposed sweater, and need to block a Branching Out scarf. That's all on
that other list.

Yes, I am a list maker. They are the best way to get things done for me. I
wrote a list of everything that was unfinished, now all that remains in the
monkey sock, mancala, a dishcloth, owls2 sweater, embroider a face on
another Bunny Nugget, a 2nd leaf lace shawl, thrummed mittens, a crochet
bib, and the Wonderful Wallaby that I just cast on. I thought about being a
monogamous knitter, or at least striving for near knitting monogamy, but I
don't think it will happen.

I set up a new list of things that I wanted to finish before starting a new
project (but cheated with the Wallaby sweater for Noah).

I finished a drop stitch stole, that I started this past spring- after going
to the Chris Bylsma class at Three Kittens. And I am nearly done with the
2nd of the Monkey socks- I'm about to have a pair!

Then, I will have no socks on the needles. I am going to knit some for Noah
next out of this super fluffy yarn I bought at Northwind Book and Fiber when
I was there last.

Noah is climbing on DH's amp and guitar case as I blog, playing with a
retracting tape measure. I wonder how long that will keep him busy?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sleepy time


Sleepy time
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Right before the MOA, and IKEA with my BFF and her energetic 3 yo.

Rhubarb pie


Rhubarb pie
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
It is really hard to type rhurabgtr rhubard rhubarb right. What is the
origin of that word? I may have to wiki it some day...

Cast iron skillet cobbler


Cast iron skillet cobbler
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
There are 2 pans I loved- both cast iron. My blue Le Creuset small stock pot
pan, and the cast iron skillet.

Dinner at friends' house in Mpls


Dinner at friends' house in Mpls
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
This is amazing- they made coconut covered fried shrimp from scratch, with
made from scratch peanut dipping sauce, coconut spoon bread, saffron rice,
and mango fruit salsa, I made 2 desserts. My first ever pie crust for a
strawberry rhubarb custard pie, and my first cobbler, peach and blueberry
(fruits from my in-laws in WI's nearby farmer's market).

The pie crust recipe- Mark Bittman, of course
Pie recipe- Joy of Rhurbarb (or something like that)
Cobbler- Eating Well magazine

I was inspired to make the pie from reading about pie and crust making on
another blog I read, First Position. A friend told me about it. The writer
has a little boy similar in age to Noah.

All turned out really well, and tasty.

Fun with the kiddie chairs


Fun with the kiddie chairs
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Climb in so I'm sitting backwards, somehow move my unwieldy long legs and
wide feet from under my tookus towards the ground. Dangle said wide feet and
swing them around just a bit. Slowly slide forward till wide
Newfoundland-style toddler feet touch floor. Repeat with a smile:)
-Noah

Jewelry hanger


Jewelry hanger
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
I bought this a few weeks ago in Mound, and their big festival of the Lakes.
We hung it up the other day- finally! They're made of copper wire, and have
a really nice sculptural meets function feel to them. A man was making and
selling these, at the same art and craft show that had Splatgirl. You will
remember her from the post with the pic of Noah in front of all the tasty
luscious brightly colored bags, dog collars, etc. Immediately I repopulated
it with my favorite jewelry- the first with necklaces, and bracelets, the
other with earrings. They really add a lot of texture to our nearly bare
bedroom walls. (We have a sarong wall hanging above the bed at the head
board area, and to the side we have 3 candle sconces draped with some chili
pepper lights. The other wall by the door has a square of "wall-magic" blue
paint, a remnant from the previous wall color I did upon moving in 6ish
years ago. )

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Open gym at church


Open gym at church
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
This was Noah's second time in our church's gym. This was his response to
seeing kids playing with basketballs in the gym. It was a bit like a deer in
the headlights, just frozen. I love his posture, he's leaning in with rapt
attention, mesmerized by the shiny new floor, and sounds of balls being
dribbled and pounded into the wood floor.

I was volunteering later on, and missed seeing Noah wander back time and
time again to re-experience the gym. What was I doing? I was making cotton
candy!

It was tons of fun, and a bit messy. I wore an apron from home, but it was
my arms and hair that got the most messy. By the time I was done, about 2
hours later, my hair had a sticky cloud of sugar lightly crisped up. It was
really funny. I had never seen so many flavors. They had lemon (not a hit
with the kids), lime, silly nilly pink, and my favorite, green apple. I
would seriously consider a part time job at the state fair making cotton
candy now...

To Dh's horror, I offered some cotton candy to Noah. He refused to open his
mouth to taste it .

At the festivities, Art show in Mound

I wanted to buy EVERYTHING! I bought Genevieve a beautiful pink and orange
collar, but it's too wide for her neck. I'm going to exchange it for a
narrower one.

where o where o where is the memory card reader, baby?

I was over in Mound a few weeks back as I HAD to meet Splatgirl. She has an aqua kitchen filled with IKEA, like me, likes to cook, loves bright colors and sews the most amazing, stylish bags/dog collars/MOO pockets/etc. Rewind a few weeks before that, and she'd posted that she'd be at the Art Fest on Lake Minnetonka. So I had to put it on my calendar.

Did I know where Mound was? NO, no matter. Google maps led the way.

I took a pic of Noah in front of her tastyliscious display- and promise to post it when the card reader appears. He unplugged it under DH's watch- and went off with it somewhere. I don't blame him, it's cool and blinks blue.

Well, I was over on SplatGirl Creates, and she had sampled my fav. waffle recipe to compare with her fav waffle recipe, from the Joy of Cooking. Both recipes use yeast, her's uses a half a packet, the Mark Bittman "How to Cook Everything" book uses the whole packet. Both waffles are super yummy.

A few weekends ago I surprised DH with the Joy of Cooking waffles, insisting that we had to try them, since Splat Girls said they were the best. They were quite good, but the waffle rivalry lives on. And now I hear my tummy rumble...

Sunday, I made another new recipe. We'd had amazing ricotta pancakes while in Australia 6 yrs. ago on our honeymoon, and tried to duplicate them with mixed results. I'd intended to make them the other day, but stumbled on yet another new pancake recipe using sour cream and cream cheese. We were 1 egg short for the recipe, but I gave it a go anyway. So I used the 2 eggs, and goofed up after separating them, I added the whites to the rest of the mix. I tried to salvage the problem by pouring them off into another bowl and trying to whip them anyway. They never got stiff, but the pancakes were still the best I'd ever tasted. So moist and creamy, I think I've become a pancake snob...

Thursday, July 16, 2009

sticky rice in mn

I posted here again. It's been a few years, but there is new stuff here now!
sticky rice

http://2tcfoodies.blogspot.com/

Genevieve goes to the vet


Genevieve goes to the vet
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Just for her "annual" this time, no triple chocolate cookie overdoses or
torn ACL's. Noah grabbed her leash to walk her around the room.

He is mimicing all kinds of sounds and actions. He's really close to
figuring out how to turn our automatic trash can on when we try to keep him
from playing with it. He really likes to help me turn the lights on and off,
puts lids on and off jars, and he climbed over a big 10inch high wooden box.
I grabbed him right before he got to the other side of it, but both his feet
were standing on the box lid. Little monkey.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

i have mommy brain!

Help, my child took all my memory!

I didn't realize till now that I had already posted the knit items that are done. Ooops!

I also couldn't remember what I had done with my keys while I was sitting in the car after returning from baby story time. Once I had used the spare key I found my usual keys in the right place, where I always store them when I'm not out and about.

Apparently I need to drink coffee more often, because it always makes my brain feel on. Perhaps we should add daily coffee to our budget?

Doo doo doo doo do doooo!


Doo doo doo doo do doooo!
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Who can resist "making an announcement" as one of my friend calls it when
the tp roll is empty! Surely not Noah, and he mimics my mouth shape as he
holds the tube squarely up to my mouth. Yes, it cracks me up when he does
that.

Love this craxy funky vest


Love this craxy funky vest
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
One time I misptyped crazy to have an "X" in it instead of the "z". I liked
it that way better, and decided that if something is extra crazy I would
spell it with an "x" instead.

Longer in time for a colder? Winter

I had extra yarn in the same colorway from a felted bag, so I added it to my
quintessential winter scarf. I like the new part better than the old parts.

Don't make decisions about ripping out your knitting late at night

This is the second time I have knit these socks. The first time they were
too big, but I wore them a lot anyway. They were my first socks. I have
enough sock yarn to knit up lots of socks, and yet I chose to rip back to
the gussets and re-knit them from that point on on smaller needles. Good
news is that the first one is done again, and the second is a few inches
from the toe decrease. Then I will have a new pair of socks!

Felted fish all knit up


Felted fish all knit up
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
I need to stuff him and help him see still. But the knitting parts of him
are done.

3:1 rib socks for mom's b-day in December

Either they are done really late, or really early in time for her birthday.
If you are a knitter I'm sure you know the true answer.

Baby fern stitch dishcloth


Baby fern stitch dishcloth
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
I could tell that I am a better knitter than I was when I started this.
Back then I kept getting the pattern messed up, and nearly ripped out the
whole thing. Now, it's done. It's just one of my many UFO=FO's as of
recently.

A pic where Noah looks a lot like my bro when he was little


Knitting Liesl and a little confession about me

Out of yummy geranio colored merino Malabrigo

This is the first time I have knit with this stuff. I can't believe I waited
so long. It's all because of my fine chocolate mentality. I can't eat/use
the luxurious fibers that I've bought because then they will be gone. So,
with certain hard to obtain or premium food or candy or whatnot, I often end
up throwing the last little bit away- since I've waited too long to eat it
and it goes bad in the meantime.

I've tried to get better about this, and actually started eating some of my
newer candy/chocolate first, rather than "saving it till later."

I have tried to apply the same principle to my yarn. I admit to having a lot
of yarn, be it acrylic, wool, sock yarn, and even hand-painted $$$ sock
yarn.

I tried to knit with my newer purchases first, then use the older stuff
later. For some reason it helps me use more of my yarn stash, and that
includes "old" yarn. With chocolate I've done the same, and have opened new
(thanks for the Scharfenberger goods Dan! I heart them) chocolate and even
eaten some of it.

Like my chocolate and fine yarns approach is my "garage sale" approach. If I
go to a sale I look for the best thing/bargain there. Rather than evaluate
that thing against all the other things in my life/home I feel compelled to
buy it. This is the reason why I try to stay away from garage sales. I need
to learn to see the big picture, not just the shiny needle in the haystack
of junk.

If I would only shop my own stash, I could save so much money. But where's
the buying rush in that?!

How do other knitters and crafters approach their stash? Does it work for
you?

Pretending to be a dog


Pretending to be a dog
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Yarn bought at Pine Needles, Cable, WI

I think it's so great that a town named Cable has a yarn store. Noah played
with the contents of my purse while I shopped and my MIL supervised him. I
was in such a knitting zone that I managed to leave all the items that she
handed to me, like stitch markers, cash and coins, lotion, and teething meds
at the yarn store. Oops. Fortunately I phoned the store and they sent all my
stuff back to me. It took 2 days to get here. Sweet!

Gypsy vest


Gypsy vest
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Yarn: Berocco Foliage
Used 5 skeins

Had to go to 3 Kittens NeedleArts four times to learn how to do crochet
trim. I love it all though.

Baby fern stitch dishcloth


Baby fern stitch dishcloth
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.

Lace close-up


Lace close-up
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.

Liesl sweater in Malabrigo


Liesl sweater in Malabrigo
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Yummy merino yarn. I have yet to do the sleeves.

Noro scarf


Noro scarf
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
I had some leftover yarn from a felted bag, so I added it to my scarf I wear
in the winter. It turned out to be my favorite part in the scarf color
repeats.

Baby's sick


Baby's sick
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
But he was getting better at this point. For nearly a day he had his tongue
hanging out like a dog. I was starting to wonder if we'd have to teach him
how to be a boy instead of a dog like Genevieve. He also crawls and shakes
his head and body like she does.

He loves remotes


He loves remotes
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
And cell phones, cameras, and laptops. And any of my knitting "chokables"
like stitch markers, cable needles, etc.

Back to normal Chippy


Back to normal Chippy
Originally uploaded by CorgiMom.
Last week was a rough one for us. Out of nowhere Noah spiked a high temp and
no other symptoms.

We drove to the ER in the middle of Tuesday night, but he'd fallen asleep by
the time we arrived. DH sat in the car with him while I inquired as to
whether or not I should wake him and bring him in. The girl at the counter
said "I can't decide that for you" - no help at all. So we went to my
parents' house where DH slept in the car in the garage overnight while Noah
got some rest. I went inside to a bed, since DH decided that he could sleep
better in the car than I. My parents were in the middle of getting all new
carpet throughout the house so the bathroom next to me was full of furniture
and thus unusable. There were no extra pillows either, they were in the
bottom of the bathtub, stored away. I couldn't shut the bedroom door since
there was a big piece of carpet blocking the door from closing. I hoped the
carpet installers couldn't see me since I had forgotten my pj's in the
middle of the night ER trip. It was quite the night.

Noah had been very clingy that morning, and I chalked it up to teething and
getting molars. He continued to be extremely fussy, and only I could console
him by holding him. So we went to the DR.'s by our house. We were told it
could be roseola if he gets a rash after the fever leaves and to just keep
at eye on him, and give him baby tylenol to lower his fever. Afte the Dr's I
had to go back to my parents' house, since I had left my purse there in all
the hurry.

At my parents' house I planned to shower there while my mom watched him. It
took me three tries to "detach" myself from his little needy arms and place
him in my mom's. He kept fussing when I tried to hand him off to her,
despite my efforts. Finally, I did manage to get him mostly asleep, enough
to break free.

The other day I told him that he would like me better when I like myself
better by being clean. Instead he cried while I took a shower.

All that to say, that it seems like Chippy has nearly fully recovered from
whatever he had. He never got a full rash, just a few hints of a rash on a
few parts of his body. I don't know what that means, but I do hope and pray
that he stays well for awhile while DH and I try to make up for the three
nights of lost sleep.