Weekend Projects (Part II)

On Friday night & Saturday morning I made this sling for Simon. He wore it for about 2 hours on Saturday and no more....he doesn't mind his cast. Still looks cool, right?
Spare room/former office (aka junk room) before.
Half the room after. I still need to clean up the really messy side but that is for another weekend.
I have been meaning to put a hand held shower in the kids bathroom since we moved in last year.

With the splint/cast situation for Simon, I finally really did it. However, not without putting the hose on backwards and spraying the whole bathroom with water. It does work well now. ;)Former home of the day bed & trundle (in the loft).New computer desk that I put together and put in the place of the "junk" in the loft. Hopefully the kids will find this location a better place to use the computer.
Ok, I am tired...need to clean up downstairs and get ready for the short week.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.

Monday...Project Day (Part I)

Since I have been doing everything but my planned projects this weekend, I decided to try and make a dent today.

I picked up the wireless network card for the desktop so I can move it into the loft and far, far away from the router.

Took apart my computer. I gotta tell you, this HP was EASY to take apart compared to other computers I have tweaked in the past.
10 minutes and it was done.
Lunch for me....Black bean, corn & pepper salad.
2 cans black beans or cannellini beans (drained & rinsed)
1 1/2 cups kernal corn1 large red bell pepper, seeded & diced
1 large yellow bell pepper, seeded & diced
2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded & diced
1/2 cup firmly packed chopped cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice
2 T salad oil
salt & pepper
lettuce leaves, rinsed & crisped

In large bowl, mix beans, corn, peppers, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice and oil. Season with salt & pepper. Cover & refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until next day.

Serve in salad bowl lined with lettuce leaves.

Yield: 6 servings
Source: Trader Joe's Favorite Sunset Recipes

Holiday Weekend

Our unplanned weekend got busy at the last minute.

Friday night we had friends of the kids over. Hannah went swimming & Simon played on the Wii with the respective siblings.

Saturday my girlfriend called while we were running errands to see I had a babysitter in my area I could recommend. Well, since she has a 5 month old, I did not have anyone to recommend so I offered to watch her 3 children while she and her hubby enjoyed an adult night away.

The kids all helped to entertain the baby, Noah. He was really a good baby but reminded me how much work they are....I hate to admit it but I was happy when he went home on Sunday. ;)
Hannah wanted to try her hand at holding the baby....
and feeding him too.
Last night we went to the neighbors and I brought chips, salsa, guac, sangria and cowboy caviar. It tastes good, is easy and also looks good on a platter.
COWBOY CAVIAR
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed & drained1 (4 oz) can ripe olives, drained & chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped onion1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 T vegetable oil
2 T lime juice
1/4 t salt
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/4 t ground cumin
1/8 t black pepper
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 large hard cooked eggs, peeled & chopped
1 green onion with top, sliced

1. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients except cream cheese, eggs and green onions.
2. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
3. Spread cream cheese on a serving plate.
4. Spoon bean mixture evenly over the cream cheese.
5. Arrange chopped eggs on bean mixture in a ring around the edge of the plate.
6. Sprinkle with onions.

YIELD: Serves 10
SOURCE: New Mexico Cooking by Clyde Casey

Hail in the Desert???

We had a heavy rain storm last night in Phoenix and got hail about 2:30 am.

Yes, you read that right, HAIL! I did not know you could get hail in the desert. Thankfully it was only pea sized and not golf ball sized hail. I got not photos because it was um, 2:30 am, when it happened.

It will be interesting to see the damage when we go out this morning.

Thursday

Notice anything on Simon's right hand??? Well, he fell off the monkey bars at school this morning and then fell on the stairs later in the day. It is broken right above his wrist on the thumb side. Splint today and cast on Tuesday.
The x-ray tech was nice and printed us an x-ray. Not a full break but 2/3 of the way through the bone above the thumb. (Camera dying...new one on the way)
Tomorrow is wear your college color day at work. However, since I am thousands of miles away from the place I went to college, I decided to improvise. I bought a vintage T at Joann's, some stamps & paint.
Voila. You can see I used a level in hopes of getting the letters somewhat even on my shirt. ;)

Tuesday Sky

This is the picture right out of my bedroom window. I watch the sun rise many mornings as I am getting ready for work.

It makes me feel calm and that the decisions of the last year and half have been the right ones, no matter how difficult.

Sigh...my itty bitty camera appears to be dying so I need to start looking for another one. Maybe there will be some sales this Labor Day weekend.

I can't believe this!!

I just read a summary on Franklin's blog about a yarn shop break-in in Chicago where they stole knitted lace items and expensive yarn but no money from the cash register.

Wow, that is a determined thief and must also be a knitter.

Sad....

Got a new t-shirt

So...I got a new t-shirt. Can you tell by the sweat on my face that it is still hot in Arizona??
Nice placement of the slogan, huh???? At least it is true on me. ;))

Quiet...

I know some of the readers of my blog are Mom's so I have a question.

Background first: I live in a two storey house that has a great room downstairs (with tv, dvd player & dvr) and a loft upstairs (tv & dvd player). I watch quite a bit of kid programming (Hannah Montana, Sponge Bob, etc.) because it is downstairs on the dvr. Today we went to the library and picked up some kid dvd's.

I told the kids they needed to watch them upstairs and there is some Mom guilt. However, I LOVE being downstairs in the kitchen, doing some baking and listening to my iPod on my IHome.

Do any of you readers struggle with Mom guilt of asking for time to yourself.

Hmm...guess I am enjoying my quiet too much. ;))

More Food

I bought this Cut-N-Seal product from the Pampered Chef after seeing sandwiches made by Michelle. We tried it this afternoon and the kids loved their round sandwiches with no crust.
We had a busy day....hairdresser for me, a 1 year old birthday party and then swimming at the house. I didn't feel like cooking so....off to Chili's we went. I ordered the Sunrise Margarita and it was so pretty, I thought I should take a photo.
It tasted good too!

Extra Tomatoes

I seem to buy tomatoes and then forget to use them before they are to the point I don't want to eat them raw. So, I started throwing them in the freezer so when I collected enough, I would make some tomato sauce.

Today, I had so many in my freezer that they were starting to fall out so into a pan they went with olive oil.
Add onion, fresh basil, garlic, salt, pepper & some parsley.
Cook until soft, send through food processor and return to pan to and simmer to reduce.
You get a really nice, thick sauce.

First Day of School

I know, I know, I am 3 days behind the actual day!

We have a tradition of a new outfit for the first day of school so here Hannah & Simon are showing off their new duds.

Hannah very happy to see her friends after the summer break.
Simon is to...as you can tell by his wonderful expression.
A good week thus far and hopefully a great year!

Sunday Round Up

I bought Jiffy Pop while we were camping but never got the chance to make it so, I made it when we got home.
After removing the instructions...
during cooking....
DONE! Um, I was more impressed than the kids.
I had the delightful pleasure to meet up with Heather (who is shrinking as we speak!) at Down Under Wines for a bit of impromptu knitting. The irony?? We are both knitting the same sweater.
We totally gotta get together more often for our "wine & knitting". No, not whine but WINE and knitting. :)

Yurt: Final Day

There were clouds in the distance so I made the executive decision to pack up. So, in honor of that, I built a fire so the kids could roast hot dogs and make s'mores (yes, for breakfast).

I also made Bannock Bread, which we used to make on camping trips when I was a kids. Served with honey it was yummy. The jury is still out with Hannah & Simon.
We went on the petroglyph hike in the park.

that took use to a high point that overlooked the lake and campground.
We saw many petroglyphs on our little hike.
And then kept hiking up...
Where we found a little cave.

Took a last minute dip in the lake.
And headed home. There was a lot of thunder while I was packing up. We drove through lots of different rain showers, even some that scared me because I could barely see the road and couldn't stop for fear of hydroplaning off the road.

Here are some of the clouds and some of the remnants of the Rodeo-Chediski fire that happened in 2002. It is amazing to see large areas where there are only a few trees and they are burnt to a crisp.
I was very happy to see blue sky as we started getting out of the higher elevations. Now, to unearth from the mountains of laundry.

Yurt Day 3: Trying to get out of the rain

Sunrise, not sunset. I was up early every day but this is the only one I had the camera with me. I sat on the "patio" outside the yurt with my diet coke and knitting. It was a gorgeous morning.
Once I told Hannah & Simon that I have been to 42 states, they wanted to get another state on their list. Since New Mexico was only 15 miles from where we were staying, we hit the state line and took photos.
Day 3 had a lot of rain...actually, late on day 2 was a lot of rain so it was no surprise we were trying to get out of the rain. We spent a lot of time trying to find something to do without rain. We found an hour or so to take a spin on go-karts. Hannah did a great job driving herself around the track
after the go-karts, we also played 18 holes of mini golf. Um, there was quite a bit of "discussion" between Hannah & Simon about whose turn it was, who was first and who would win....needless to say, we did not keep score.
We beat the rain at the yurt long enough to cook steaks over the campfire before we got hit with a long round of rain. Even with the rain, a great day.

Yurr Trip: Day 2 Painted Desert & Petrified Forest

Our friend's loaned us this fancy "camp" stove. Pancakes & eggs for breakfast.
On the way (100+ miles) to the petrified forest we ran into this stop light in the middle of nowhere.
The view to the left of the van...
and to the right.
The painted desert in the background. Pictures do not do it justice.
Newspaper rock at the petrified forest. Hundreds of petroglyphs.

The teepee's within the forest.
Hannah & Simon with a piece of petrified wood.
The view looking out from the petried wood photo.
A gorgeous and informative 22 mile drive through the Petried Forest National Park.