Miles Counts

Last night I took a video of Miles counting his toys.  It's awesome (so watch all of it)!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Okay, so nothing in my day had anything to do with Cinco de Mayo.  Jonathan started his day off with a 3.5 hour AP US History Review.  Dan went for a bike ride to Lehi.  I watched Dan attack the annual sprinkler project.  This year we had a huge break compliments of UTOPIA who drilled through a line while installing the fiber optic cable.  It took digging 4 holes to find what we think is the problem- an exploded pipe.  It's been patched and tomorrow we will test the line and see if we found the only broken pipe or if there are more holes to be dug.  While it is convenient to buy a house with an existing in ground sprinkler system, the disadvantage is not knowing where the pipes are.  After pipe party #1, we went to Nolan's lacrosse game.  It was an away game in South Jordan.  We got to the game a half hour early only to find that, as is typical, the games were running behind schedule.  Today they were a full hour delayed.  We left Nolan at the field and Dan and I took Miles to a park where he had a great time going down the steepest slide and collecting pine cones.  When it was time to head back to the game, Miles informed us that he needed a "can Coke, candy, treat, and cookies".  His daddy took him to 7-11 and helped his dreams come true.  Armed with Coke, Oreos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, a chair, a blanket, and a beanie (it was freezing!), we settled in to watch Nolan's game.  His team played decently the first 3 quarters, then came alive in the 4th.  The picked up the intensity and physical side of the game.  It was fun to watch as both teams played the ball instead of each other.  Hopefully I'll get a good picture of Nolan in action soon!  After the game, Nolan got to go mow his grandparent's yard.  Dad had sprinkler party #2 and patched the sprinkler line and I watched Miles ride his trike and the skateboard.  And now it's the end of the day.  I got nothing done on my list, but that's not unusual as I seem to be most productive during the week while all 3 boys are at school.

Bummer!

I haven't grilled yet this year and I've been wanting grilled veggies.  I decided that today was the day.  I got everything prepped, cleaned 2 wasp nests out of the BBQ (why do they always try to build homes inside the BBQ?), and ignited the grill.  It heated up, I put the veggies on, then walked away.  A few minutes later I returned to stir the veggies and I realized there wasn't a flame.  Lame.  The propane tank was drained.  No biggie, I hooked up the second tank, opened the gas flow and heard hissing.  Something has happened to that tank and it's not safe to use.  I really wanted grilled veggie tonight so I got creative.  I took the grill basket inside, fired up my gas cooktop and "grilled" indoors.  The veggies were still good, just not quite what I expected.  Tomorrow, I send someone to fill the tank.

Peanut Butter and Raspberries

I think that peanut butter and raspberries, independently of course, have to be the two most perfect foods on this earth.  I can't think of a food containing either of those two products that I don't like (oh wait, I don't like Reese's peanut butter cups).  Peanut butter, especially super chunky, is heavenly.  I love to eat it straight from the jar.  I hold a special place in my heart for my all-time favorite peanut butter marshmallow sandwich.  Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are the best.  And then there are raspberries.  Whenever I buy raspberries I have to buy at least 2 cartons- one for the drive home and the other for the intended purpose behind the raspberry purchase.  My neighbors have raspberries, and while I hate the shoots coming up in my grass, I sure love picking the berries from the canes that have fallen through the fence and are on our side.  Once upon a time I even ordered trout at a restaurant because it was served with a raspberry sauce.  Dan thought it was the the nastiest fish he's ever tasted.  I thought that it was good, only because of the raspberries though.  I wonder if there is something that combines both peanut butter and raspberries in a way that they compliment each other. Perhaps an internet search and cooking experiment is in order... 

The Return of the 80's

I've been noticing more and more fluorescent clothing.  Yuck.  It was bad in the 80's and all these years later, it's still bad.  The fluorescent clothing phase was never a part of my life, except for my snow beanies- I had a neon pink and a neon yellow one.  Evidently bright is back.  At least the stuff from this decade doesn't have "Frankie says RELAX" printed on it.  Ugly, cheap plastic bead necklaces are back too.  So what's the next "from the 80's" comeback product?  I'm betting on erasable ballpoint pens.  Do you remember those?  While I thought they were immensely cool, the ink sure smeared.  Oh wait, I just did an Amazon search and they have the erasable pens!  So, since the 80's were so terribly uncool, what's next on the soon-to-be revived list?

Weighted Down

Miles has an obsession with being outside and on his tricycle.  Dan had him outside tonight.  I joined them a bit later and noticed that as Miles was tearing up the driveway on his trike, his pants were lopsided.  When I inquired, Dan told me that Miles had put rocks in his pocket.  I asked how many rocks were in the pocket;   Dan said there were eleven.  At dusk we took Miles inside.  I had him empty his pocket first.  There weren't eleven rocks in the pocket; there were fifty-seven, varying in size from pebbles to 3" long.  No wonder his pants were lopsided!

Dear Dinner,

I think I love you.  Fresh-from-the-oven homemade pita bread with mellowed-and-chilled Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (also homemade).  Heavenly.  Thank you for a divine dining experience.  The End.