Sneak

Elsie loves to run. She is fast and fancies herself to be the fastest thing on two legs. :)

Last year she was very into watching Dinosaur Train on PBS and Netflix. She would constantly recite to me (and random strangers) various dino-facts. I loved it.

"Mom, did you know that Troodons are omnivores? I'm a Troodon because I'm an omnivore."

She loves Troodons.

"Mom, did you know that Troodons are really, really fast? I'm really fast, too! Watch!"

She would then do a funny little steppy-steppy-dancy start and then take off! Whoosh! Around and around the house on her tippy toes (because that's faster). Then she'd rush back to me . . .

"Mom! Did you see how fast I am?! Did you see those little gray clouds behind me when I run?!"

"I'm SO FAST!"

It would always make me laugh. I love my girl.

Yesterday, at dinnertime she again felt inspired to display her prowess for speed. She jumped up off her chair mid-taco and started racing through the living room, "I'm so fast, I could sneak up on anything! I could catch anything!"

Lilie, from her seat at the table, watched her sister, thinking. Hearing Elsie's boast, she immediately replied, "Elsie, why would you be so fast and loud if you were sneaking?"

{!!!!!!!!}

Nels and I just looked at each other and laughed.

We are in for trouble.

I couldn't help but remember the little 2 year old Lilie that would "sneak" out of her bedroom at nighttime. We could hear the door click open from the living room where we were watching TV or reading. At first we'd expect to see her right away, but there was nothing, so we'd figure she'd gone back to her room, only to have her show up around the corner about 8 minutes later. Subsequent nights revealed the "Lilie sneak".

She'd quietly open the door and then turn that petite little 2 year old body around and INCH down the hallway backward, her eyes covered with her soft little hands. Clearly, she believed that if she moved slowly enough (half an inch or so with each shuffle) and if she couldn't see us, then of course, we wouldn't see her. Her patience and determination was incredible! She would even do this technique when she knew we were right outside the door. "If I can't see them, they can't see me." :) Slowly, so slowly, shuffling herself backwards. :)

Nels remembered the almost 3 year old Lilie. We were down visiting my parents and Elsie was just a tiny, smily, adorable little baby. Uncle Jake, always the joker, was holding Elsie and completely enraptured with her cuteness, told Hazel and Lilie that he was going to keep her. "She's my baby now!" Hazel, true to form, immediately fell to pieces. "No! No! She's my sister! Wah!!!!"

While Hazel wailed, you could see the wheels turning in Lilie's little mind. She loved that baby sister and NO ONE was going to get her. But instead of fighting, Lilie thought for a moment, then quietly leaned her little tow-head over to her Uncle Jake and softly confided, "Well, you know . . . she spits." (Translation: you may think she's cute enough to keep, but I think you'll be sorry if you actually go through with that plan.)

Or Jake would pick her up, growling, "I'm gonna eat you!" The other grandkids would start squirming and screeching and crying until some adult would come to their rescue.

But not Lilie.

Jake, holding her up above his head: "I'm going to eat you!!!"

Lilie, with a look of complete grit on her face: "NO! I'm YUCKY!!!!"

Laughing hysterically with surprise, monster-Jake immediately released her. :)

Being a mom is funny.

Chicken Chimichangas

If yesterday I shared *one* of  favorite foods, today I am sharing my all-time favorite. I think I requested this for dinner nearly every one of my birthdays growing up. Even now, when I am at home for my birthday, this is what I crave.

What's not to love about a burrito deep-fried to crispy perfection topped with creamy, limey guacamole and spicy salsa?

Most chimichangas I've ever eaten at a restaurant are just meat on the inside and while they are good, the addition of rice, red onions, and oregano in this recipe just blows all other chimichangas out of the ballpark. So yummy.

{sigh}

Sadly, no guac in this picture . . . my poor avocados sat too long. But I'm going to share my guac recipe too, because it's heavenly.


Chicken Chimichangas

Ingredients

2 lb. chicken breasts
4 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. wine vinegar or juice from jar of pickled jalapenos
1/2 c. rice, uncooked
1 Spanish onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 green chilies, fresh or canned, diced
1 tsp. oregano
12 - 15 tortillas

Instructions

Place chicken, broth, salt and vinegar in large saucepan. Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 10 mins. Remove from heat and let chicken cool in liquid.

RESERVING BROTH, drain cooled chicken. Chop chicken coarsely. 

Measure 1 1/2 c. of broth and bring to boil in same saucepan. Add rice, onion, garlic and chopped chicken. 

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. 

Add chilies and oregano to mixture and combine well. 

Place about 2 ½ Tb. of filling in center of warmed tortilla. Fold like an envelope and secure with a toothpick. 

Heat 2 inches of oil in heavy skillet until approximately 400 degrees. 

Fry filled tortillas envelopes until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. 

Remove toothpicks and serve topped with lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, tomato and salsa.

Pic VIA

Guacamole

Ingredients

2 avocados, mashed
1 tomato, diced
½ tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced
2-4 tsp. lime (or lemon) juice
2 Tb. chopped hot or mild chilies
2 lg. green onions
½ tsp. cilantro, minced

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Meatballs & Rigatoni with Red Hot Tomato Sauce

One of my favorite foods. Ever. Seriously, these meatballs are perfection, mouth-watering. I don't love big chunks of meat, but I could eat these everyday. They are perfect for whatever meatball recipe you are making, Italian, Swedish, Sweet and Sour . . . you'll never be sad that you took the extra time to whip them up. Not ever. And the marinara sauce is the best I've ever had. It's simple and a tad spicy - just the way I like it.

I'm going to plug again for Yumprint! It's the BEST recipe website out there - and it just keeps getting better. They recently added an option that makes your grocery list for you, based off of the recipes in your menu! I don't know how you do your grocery shopping, but that little perk just added about an hour to my week. I am constantly amazed at how much I use this fabulous website.

photo Via

Meatballs

Ingredients:

2 slices bread, crusts removed and cut into pieces
3 sm. Cloves garlic, minced
½ lb. ground beef
fresh parsley
½ lb. ground pork
zest of ½ lemon
¾ tsp. salt
1 Tb. olive oil
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ cup milk
½ med. Onion, finely chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten

Instructions:

Place bread in bowl. Pour milk over it.
In another bowl, mix veal and pork. Add onion, garlic, lemon, parsley. Add salt, pepper. Mix well.
Mash bread mixture to form paste and add meat mixture. Mix and add egg. Combine well.
Cover with plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour. Heat oven to 350.
Form mixture into 12-16 1 ½” balls.
Heat ½ Tb. oil in skillet over med. Sauté meatballs till brown. Place in oven to finish cooking about 20 min.


Rigatoni & Red Hot Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Tb. olive oil
1 med. onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 qt. tomatoes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (adjust to taste)
1 tsp. fresh basil, chopped
1 - 1 1/2 lbs. rigatoni (or penne) noodles
Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Heat oil and saute onion and garlic. Add tomatoes, salt, and peppers. Bring to boil, turn down heat, and let simmer until thickened (the secret to amazing marinara sauce, simmer. simmer. simmer). Add basil.

Cook noodles according to package directions.

Add meatballs to sauce and serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese over noodles.

Turning 3

We celebrated our beautiful Violet's 3rd birthday on Saturday.

I will always say I can't believe it - because I can't. I've spent the weekend looking at pictures of that sweet, soft, little, brilliantly-blue-eyed baby. What a tragedy of mortality that I can only remember those times in glimpses.

Violet is growing up --- so beautiful and smart. She is fun and LOVES to laugh and make others laugh. Violet is gentle and tender-hearted. She is timid at times, with things like strangers and heights. Other times she has no fear. 

Two months ago Violet got her first set of glasses. She is far-sighted and the only reason that I even considered taking her into the eye doctor is because I, myself, am seriously far-sighted, so I recognized the signs. Not only that, but both Nels's dad and two of his siblings are far-sighted as well, so I've been on the lookout. I got glasses when I was four and according to my mama, I was angel until I was about two and then I turned into a crazy monster child. Being far-sighted doesn't mean that you can't see (like with near-sightedness), it just means that your eyes have to work extra hard to see -- as if you were walking around all day looking at something that's 4 inches away from your face. It's incredibly strenuous on the eyes. It can lead to headaches and general irritability/moodiness. I'll never understand why more doctors don't recommend vision checkups for hyperactive children.

Around about last fall Violet started having SUCH a hard time controlling her emotions. She would fall to pieces about the smallest things, then try really, really hard to be happy, but just couldn't do it. She'd start crying and when I'd try to help her calm down saying, "Violet, you need to stop crying now. Everything is okay." She'd respond, "I'm NOT crying! (with huge tears rolling down her face and wailing) See?! (insert fakey smile) I'm happy! I'm happy! Waaaaaahhhhhh!" It was getting a little ridiculous. :) I thought maybe she just needed to take more naps, but often she'd wake up in this kind of mood. I knew that this kind of behavior wasn't really her natural temperament and finally made the appointment at the end of December.

We've broken one set of glasses already, but since getting a pair that stay on her face much better than the first ones (and have a warrantee), she's been wearing them like a champ and they really make a difference. Violet loves to be happy and has always been pretty easy-going, but we no longer have the mid-afternoon crazies. She has mellowed out quite a bit since getting her glasses.

Violet LOVES her name! She can spell it and write it. She loves to sing a song that I made up. "V-I-O-L-E-T that's what spells my Vio-Let-y" It's silly and it makes her happy. She knows all her letters and likes to point them out everywhere we go. - Especially her favorite letter - V!

Big Violet and Little Mommy

Violet gives the greatest hugs! At night you must give and receive no less than 5 hugs and kisses (with lots of butterfly and kitty kisses mixed in). I love tucking Violet in! She is very concerned with the happiness of those around her. She asks me often, "You happy, Mama?" 

Vi loves to talk and talks very, very well. She is also my little songbird. All my girls love to sing and hum and whistle and make up lots of songs, but Violet remembers the words to songs really, really well and has excellent pitch. She is always listening.

Her new favorite toys are My Little Pony and it's been fun for her and Elsie to have a game that they enjoy playing together. Up to this point, the age gap between Violet and Elsie has been a little too big at times, but Ponies have been a good meeting place for them. And the older Clara gets, the more I can see what fabulous little friends they will be as well. I love my girls so much!

Violet's 3 Year Stats:

Height: 38" -- 75%

Weights: 32# -- 70%

When I asked Violet what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said that she wanted to swim. Elsie keeps asking if we can go swimming at City Beach (brrrrrr!) and so it's been on her mind. Luckily we found a great swimming pool in Coeur d'Alene where we could go play so that we didn't have to brave the still-snow-covered beaches in town. :) We spent the day splashing and then playing at the indoor play area. By the time we'd eaten cake, gone out for dinner, and drove the hour back home, she was one tired birthday girl!

She was so excited about her orange (current favorite color) birthday shirt! 

I love her happy face!

Happy birthday, my sweet Violet! Thank you for being such a darling and patient little friend to me. I feel like the luckiest mom in the whole world to have you as my daughter.

Little Miss

This school year Elsie has been attending a free preschool that the school does. It has been the perfect fit for my precocious little miss.

In the class there are half the children that perhaps need a little assistance, whether for behavioral or developmental difficulties, and then the other half of the class are "peers" that help model good social behaviors.

Elsie attends twice a week for three hours and absolutely loves it. I'm not a huge preschool fan, but the social outlet for her has been so great. She is such a spunky and talkative little extroverted person.

I am often just a couple of minutes late picking her up (I know you're surprised. Gasp! right?), but her teachers are always so sweet. "If anyone is going to be here for a few extra minutes, we LOVE having Elsie!"

Today we were more late than usual, due to a moose and baby in our yard. Elsie was the only kid left hanging out with her teachers, talking her head off, as usual.

They told me, "I hope you know how much we love having Elsie in our class. She is the perfect peer. She gets along so well with everybody and sets such a good example. She is always helping out the other children. We think she is just fabulous!"

Yes. My Elsie is very good at making sure that everyone is doing what they should! :) She is so helpful and nurturing.

I've realized that Elsie LOVES responsibility. She really likes having chores and helping me around the house. She loves helping with her sisters. She loves being with me and takes great interest in my happiness.

She is spunky and gentle and smart and beautiful and fun! She has the best crazy laugh I know of and loves to show me how fast she can run. :)

I love my girl. She is such a sweet little friend to me and brings so much sunshine into our family. I love you, princess!

Fancy Hair

The Chair

Oh, how I love creating.

In all it's forms.

I love it.

And makeovers? Heaven. I love taking something ugly and watching it transform.

When we were in college and I would get excited about buying things from the D.I. to make them look lovely, I thought it was because I liked saving money. Many years and many dollars later, I realize that this is not really true. I love getting a good deal, but that's not why I like recreating second-hand treasures. I have a funky and eclectic style and I really, really like making something my own.

Besides, what would be the fun of having all my furniture matching?

Last year when we finally sold our house and moved all of our furniture up to Sandpoint, I was left with a very small room at the front of the house that had no furniture. I created an idea of just what I wanted and set out to find my pieces via Craigslist. After a couple weeks of searching I found exactly what I was looking for and promptly purchased BEAUTIFUL fabric to recover them with . . .

. . . fast-forward a year and another move later . . . . So typical. I hate this about myself. Sometimes I feel like I have zero follow through. {sigh} anyway.

After my success with my string art project, I was on such a high that I finally delved into the chair.

bias double cord welting - much more fun to make after buying the correct sewing foot

I made my welting and ripped all the fabric off - taking pictures along the way. Recovering furniture is actually far easier than most people imagine it to be. I take detailed pictures throughout so that I can remember how things are assembled, then use the old fabric as a pattern for the new pieces. Most chairs actually require very little sewing.

However, I'm not always smart and I never do things the easy way or choose simple projects, so this one required a little more work than I'd originally thought. The ENTIRE back was sewn together. I'm so SMRT.

The worst of it was the three blisters that I got on my poor crippled hands by not wearing gloves to remove hundreds of staples with a screwdriver and pair of needle-nosed pliers.

It's a good thing that Nels and my kids are the only people who see me when I'm doing these types of projects.

First, because I don't get dressed or brush my hair --- but second -

I turn into a lunatic.

An insanely proud and neurotic crazy person.

When I was first learning how to sew while pregnant with my oldest daughter, I discovered something about myself that I'd never known. I LOVE puzzles.

In the numerous hours that I've spent reading patterns and sewing in the past ten years, I've found that sewing is really Fabric Engineering. And there is a latent engineer housed in this brain of mine. It is ridiculously exhilarating for me to figure out how something works. When I get going, watch out!

I dance around, sing songs, get completely engrossed in what I'm creating, and generally spend a great deal of time telling Nels and my girls how AWESOME I am.

Like I said, it's a good thing this is done in the privacy of my own home.

I made a couple of brilliant choices with regards to this chair. One: the fabric. Seriously. Isn't it gorgeous? I know it's bright, but I love it. And Two: the purchase of a pneumatic stapler. Oh my heavens, that thing changed my life! I can't believe I ever doubted Nels's purchase of that little air compressor a couple of years ago.

Ta-Da! Isn't it pretty? I've been SO SICK since finishing it up that I couldn't even fully enjoy it until today.

From start to finish I took less than a week to complete my little chair and LOTS and LOTS of poked little toes, due to scattered piles of pulled staples.

Next project?

Recovering the matching couch -- or settee -- if you will. It's going to be a beautiful navy velvet. And I just realized a couple of days ago that when I bought the fabric a year ago, I didn't buy enough . . . {insert eye rolling}

Also, if this:

causes me any grief with my new upholstery job, She. Is. Dead.

And I love houseplants.
The End.