This morning I sent a robot and a cowgirl to school.

 

 What did you send?

Cooking dinner is not my favorite thing.

 Oh, Elliot, I get that same look on my face when I think about cooking dinner.

Here are some things about me and dinner:

Sometimes we eat dinner before 5:00. Most nights I make something really easy. Like 15 minutes or less easy. I try to cook things that are relatively healthy. I'm not crazy about it, but I do try to make as many things from scratch as I can. I always try to have fresh bread on hand. You can eat just about anything with a thick slice of freshly baked bread and call it dinner. And I always serve a vegetable on the side. My kids love broccoli and carrots and corn and that's about it.

Here are some of our favorite quick dinners:

scrambled eggs - We eat a lot of eggs for dinner. One time, Mike tried to make the kids scrambled eggs for breakfast. They said, "Eggs for breakfast?! That's dinner food." Ha!

egg burritos - See, more eggs. When the kids have egg burritos, Mike and I have huevos rancheros. I haven't been so great about it lately, but I like to always have fresh salsa or pico de gallo in my fridge.

spaghetti - My kids love spaghetti (just noodles and sauce). I use whole grain noodles and like to put ricotta cheese in mine.

grilled chicken - I don't cook meat very often, but grilled chicken tenderloins are so quick and easy. I serve them with rice and vegetables.

pancakes or waffles - It's like a party at our house when I make this for dinner. My kids love it! I use whole wheat flour so I don't feel quite so guilty about it.

tomato soup - My kids refuse to eat grilled cheese sandwiches. Can you believe that? So we have thick slices of whole wheat bread with our tomato soup instead.

quesadillas (last night's dinner, shown above) - I used to make chicken quesadillas, but my kids wouldn't eat them. So I started serving the chicken on the side. I make them a little fancier for me and Mike.

pizza - I make whole wheat pizza dough in my bread maker and cook the pizzas on our grill. It's a snap. Our favorite toppings are cheese (kids), bacon (me), and mushrooms (Mike).

mac n' cheese with tuna and peas - My kids call this "Daddy's Special Pea-O". And they love it.


Would you eat any of these things?
What do you make when you don't feel like cooking dinner?

We borrowed a Bumbo.

And now Elliot thinks he's a big kid.

4 things that made yesterday great

1. It was cool enough for the kids to have PE outside. For the first time since school started.

2. I took the sun shades off of the windows on the back of my house. I look forward to this every fall. My kitchen and Arizona/laundry room instantly become about a million times brighter.

3. Mike decided to work from home. Yay! No more missing him for 13+ hours a day.

4. The first section of my kitchen cabinets was dry enough to hang. I love them.


What made your day great?

Calling all artists!

If scrapbooking isn't your thing, but drawing is, and you'd like to help Julianne and the girls at Lua Nova, keep reading. This might be the opportunity for you:

"I am in need of a skilled artist who would be willing to help me complete a book on maternity I am writing to teach the girls at Lua Nova about everything from pre-natal care to breastfeeding to educating older children. I will need around 50 simple line drawings (no color needed!) that educate and engage the girls around these various maternal health topics. I am currently writing the book, and will give very specific directions on each drawing needed. The process will be very collaborative and the bulk of the work will be completed in November-December, although we'll be evaluating and modifying the book all the way up until June of next year so I'll be asking for minor alterations or other drawings during that time as well. Unfortunately there is no remuneration involved, but the cause is great. There are currently no didactic materials on these issues available for the girls, and I'm trying to tailor the book to their very specific needs.

It's quite a big project that will require time and dedication, but if any of you have dormant art skills you wish you could use more, this is a great opportunity to tangibly help an at-risk group of young mothers! Please get in touch with me directly if you'd like to get involved: juliannerose@gmail.com"

Thank you!

p.s. The scrapbooks have started arriving, and they are beautiful! Thank you to everyone who has made a scrapbook and sent it in. You are wonderful. If you haven't popped yours in the mail yet, there's still time! Can you get it to me by December 1st? You are the best!

image by Renato Stockler

The weather finally changed.

Thank heavens. I was feeling very uninspired. But this morning I woke up to a cold, drizzly, breezy day. Yesterday was beautiful, too. Our air conditioner didn't turn on once and I even cooked dinner! (I won't tell you how long it's been since I've cooked a real dinner, but it's been a really long time.)

I have yet to make my inaugural pumpkin bread this season (maybe later today), but this recipe caught my eye. And if you know me, you know I love a new pumpkin recipe.

I'll be giving it a whirl this weekend in between coats of paint. Yes, I am still working on the kitchen. I am about a fifth of the way done. (Yes, that's all!) Painting is not my full time job and I promised myself that I wouldn't ignore the rest of my life just to paint my cabinets. I do a coat here, a coat there. It's coming along. My goal is to be finished by Thanksgiving.

How's the weather at your house?

Look at my silly baby.

Oh, he makes us smile.

Have a great weekend!

I'll be painting my kitchen cabinets. I'm not going to lie, this painting of our perfectly good, less than five year old kitchen cabinets is giving Mike a minor heart attack. He was really hoping that I would change my mind. Alas, he knew what I was when he married me. :)

Yesterday called for cupcakes.

Spice cake and this frosting. Yum. And so very fall-feeling, even though the a/c was blasting and the high reached the upper 90s.

cheap flowers and some other things

I was at Walmart this morning. I don't even know why. But to make it up to myself, I bought these flowers. They say fall, I think. And they remind me of these cute earrings, which I think I need in a major way. In lots of colors.

We had a really great weekend. The famous mrs. r and her little family stayed with us. Even though we hadn't seen each other in about two years, we picked up right where we left off. She is that kind of friend. It was so fun to catch up and see her cute boys in action. Come back soon, r house!

The kids are out of school this week for October break. They are already bored. That's good for them, right? Because the only thing we have planned is a trip to the dentist.

I made peach crisp last night.

And this is all that was left this morning. So, yah, it was pretty yummy.

I used this recipe. It was great, but for some reason my crisp wasn't crisping, so I broiled it for a minute after cooking it for 50 minutes at 325.

What we've been up to. . .

not much, it turns out.


Well, here are a few things:

We survived the big storm of 2010. It lasted all of 10 minutes and left lots of pretty little hail stones and nice cool(er) temperatures.

Elliot turned five months old (say it isn't so!), so we tried giving him food. He's not a fan. He'll open his mouth for just about anything, unless it's rice cereal (mixed with water or formula or apple juice or bananas. I think we've tried it all). But darn it, he sure is cute. And bald.

Oliver is star of the week at school, much to his delight.

And he and Mabel have discovered Battleship. There has been a constant sea battle in our living room now for days.

I think that about covers it.

What have you been up to?

You are nice.

 cute baby girl at Lua Nova by Renato Stockler

Wow.

I have been totally overwhelmed by the response to my call for scrapbooks! Hooray! You are all so kind. Thank you to everyone who has offered a scrapbook (or two or five!).

If you are still feeling the urge to help, it's not too late. We'll take all the scrapbooks we can get. 

From Julianne's blog today:

"this afternoon i chatted extensively with two of the girls, each showed me old and tattered notebooks and scraps of paper filled with writings and drawings they have treasured in their rooms. but neither of them had pens of their own to continue writing/drawing/creating etc. i had no idea! i gave them each some random pens i had in my bag. it made their week. i mean really?"

So yes, the need is great.

Thank you, everyone! Have a wonderful weekend. I am going to be listening to this and pretending it's not 103 outside.