Bugaboo Creek

On Tuesday evenings Bugaboo Creek lets the kids eat free. Since a BBQ dinner party fell through this week I was left without a weeknight meal. So, of course, we had to eat out. The kids enjoyed posing in front of the big moose stationed outside the restaurant. Inside the restaurant, I ate way too much as did everyone and it wasn't even that good but at least we had a few dollars knocked off the bill because "kids eat free." According to Matt we still paid "way too much." Oh well....we'll be eating home cooked meals for the next 5 days.

Our meal yesterday was absolutely delicious. I made Enchiladas Verdes from my Cooks Illustrated magazine. The verde sauce was made from scratch from poblano chilis and tomatillos. I'd post a link to the recipe but apparently Cooks Illustrated requires a paid internet subscription in order to give one access to the internet recipes. So if you are truly interested (and according to the number of comments I get.......nunya are...but anyway....) I'll send you a hard copy of the recipe. Along with the enchiladas, I made Mili's aji salsa and garlic rice. I still haven't mastered the aji salsa so next time will either add seasoning to the salsa or will cook my rice in chicken broth to give more flavor. I will conquer it though...mark my words.

Since Buddy was out of town and Matt was out to dinner with one of his bosses; Dana enjoyed dinner with us. She raved about the meal which made me feel great. Hey... it doesn't take much people.

My back had been bothering me all day long. I'm not sure why it gets sore but it seems to happen every 4 months or so. It's pretty much a grin and bear it recovery since nothing else seems to work. Nothing seemed to work last night and I was in so much pain that when Matt got home from his working dinner I gave him a hug and walked out the door. I went immediately to Dana's house to relax and watch a movie. (of course I told Matt what I was doing beforehand...c'mon peeps) She had rented The Eye. Which was right up our alley of cheesy scary movies. This one starred Jessica Alba and so was a plus since most of our cheesy scary movies star celebrities no one has heard of.

To help my back, Dana told me to alternate Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours. I'm happy to say it seems to help. Of course, we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Matt is now telling me it's time to go to bed. Since Big Brother is over I suppose I'll agree with him. g'night y'all.

pools and projects

It's been almost a whole week since I've posted last!! I can't believe how fast time is going these days.

Let's see...this week was full of pools and projects. On Friday we had our playdate at Miss Claudine's new house...which is equipped with a built in salt water pool. My kids were more excited to play with the toys inside so I got to enjoy some pool time without having to stay within arms reach of the kiddos.

On Saturday, Buddy and Dana made us dinner in return for watching their dog Belle last week while they were on vacation. Buddy smoked ribs and Dana made confetti corn salad, bread and a green salad. While the meat was smoking the kids (and Daddy for awhile) played in our blow up pool.

Matt was so tired from doing his projects (this weekend's was to pressure wash the back of the house) that he couldn't even put on his bathing suit.

I have to say the back of the house looks so much better with all the mold and dirt washed off of it.

Sunday, Matt finished up his pressure washing project and I nursed a sore back. I'm not sure what I did but once again it's really bothering me. Hopefully it will clear up soon because I need to get everything ready for the consignment sale this Saturday. I'm hoping to get rid of a lot of the baby clothes and baby items we have hanging around the house.

And here's the week in pictures....

Tyler and Lauren playing in their dump trucks.

Tyler right after he fell out of his dump truck.

Lauren made a "Picnic Salad" from her cookbook for dinner on Sunday.

And the finished product.

I'm off to lay down to nurse my back while the kids are napping. TTFN.

pool day

Last night Lauren had her first sleepover. As posted earlier, Tera spent the night. It was pretty successful except that Tera woke up crying around midnight but quickly went back to sleep while I rubbed her back and first this this morning, 6:30am to be exact, I had 2 little blond girls climb into my bed and actually kick me out.

Lauren woke up a bit under the weather with some tummy touble but after an hour she was running around as healthy as can be.

When Tera's Dad came to get her, we decided to take the kids to the neighborhood pool. We ended up spending all day at the pool. My kids even took a little nap on a pool side chair.

It was a fun day and luckily I'm the only one who ended up getting burned. In addition to Tyler and Tera; Lea and Bethany (friends from the neighborhood) along with their parents, also joined us.

We got home with enough time to get our baths in just before Matt got home from work. He's fighting a sore throat so I'm sure that's putting a crimp in his day.

For dinner I made a bay scallop stir fry which I thought was delicious but Matt thought was a bit "saucy." Maybe tomorrow I'll start taking pictures of my meals again. This one did appear picture worthy but I just didn't think of it. I was too excited to eat outside on our new patio table. It was really a beautful evening.,

Here's the recipe for the Bay Scallop Stir-fry:
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
1 red bell pepper (ribs, seeds removed, thinly sliced)
2 bunches of scallions, white and green parts separated
2 carrots, halved lengthwise or quartered if large and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 pound bay scallops, patted dry

Pepare rice whichever way you like.
Whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set sauce aside.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high. Add bell pepper , scallion whites, carrots and ginger; cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are crisp-tender, 4 to 5 mins.
Add scallops and scallion greens, cook, stirring occasionally, until scallops are cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.
Whisk sauce briefly, and add to skillet; cook until thickened, about 1 minute.
Serve scallop stir-fry over rice.


Big Brother 10 is on so gotta go....

time flies by

I'm not sure if time goes faster on the east coast but the past 3 days have just flown by. Here's a quick recap:

We got home Saturday afternoon and had nothing in the fridge so we went out to dinner with the Hancocks and the Corbitts. We ate at la Parrilla and I had the enchilada dish which was delicious. I washed it down with a couple of margaritas. It was a fun evening and I was happy to go out to eat since I didn't feel like being creative to find something to make with an empty fridge and pantry.

Sunday, Matt mowed Ms. Maria's lawn and I made up the weekly menu and grocery list. Matt dropped me off at the grocery store and he and the kids went to Home Depot to pick up a couple of attic fans since ours had rusted up thanks to this muggy climate.

Back home I hurried to put the groceries away and then it was off to Lea's 3rd birthday party. She is Frederick and Maria's daughter and lives 2 houses down from us. It was a fun birthday party with snacks, pasta salad, pizza and homemade sangria. There was also the obligatory birthday cake and ice-cream. Lea's parents went all out and even made up t-shirts for all the guests. Lauren and Tyler have pretty much lived in theirs since they got them. They wore them to bed and then each insisted on wearing them today.

Here are picture from a few minutes ago of them playing in the sandbox with their t-shirts. Later tonight Matt is hosting the Monday night poker game and we are going to have Lauren's friend Tera (Mike's daughter) spend the night since Mike needs me to watch her early in the morning. This will be Lauren's first slumber party and she's really looking forward to it.

Well the kids are starting to act up and Matt is off mowing Mike W's lawn for some poker money so I better stop ignoring them and find something for them to do.

it was pretty cool in retrospect...

The plane ride home was a little exciting so I thought I'd share. We got to the bustling Boise airport about 50 min. before our plane was to leave. We forgot our stroller at G'ma & G'pa's house so although G'ma Jan drove us there we had to wake G'pa Michael back up to bring it to us. They only live 10 min. from the airport so not too big of a deal. We got to the gate just in time to start boarding. (perfect timing if you ask me.)

The kids sat with Daddy on one side of the plane and I sat comfortably across the aisle. The kids enjoyed the take off and were doing great....although Tyler decided to go #2 not long after take off. Sorry to the other nearby passengers if you're reading this. After we reached our cruising altitude there was an announcement over the loud speaker saying there was an emergency on board and is there a Dr. on the plane. Hmmm. Alarming looks all around until we found the emergency. A girl about 4 rows behind me had passed out and seemed to be in some sort of diabetic shock (my own unprofessional assessment.) 4 flight attendents were surrounding her and giving her oxygen and a Dr. on board was taking her blood pressure and trying to revive her. After awhile and a glass of OJ she seemed to recover so the flight carried on as usual. About an hour and a half later I noticed that the girl was again surrounded by flight attendents and I saw her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Yikes. This time I could feel the plane slowly start to descend so I figured we were going to land and she was going to go to the hospital. After a min. later my thoughts were confirmed when the pilot came on and said we were going to make an emergency landing. A flight attendent came on next saying that this was going to be a rapid descent so stow all your carry ons, buckle your seat belts and hang on tight to those lap babies. I was a little surprised because I could feel the descent and it didn't feel like any descent out of the ordinary. Until...all of a sudden it felt like the plane just dove straight down. It was fast, very bumpy, and I couldn't even keep my feet on the floor. I'm not sure if it was due to the quick change in altitude or a panic attack but all of a sudden I felt very hot and that I couldn't breath. I put my head between my legs as well as I could since I only had about 3 inches between me and the seat in front of me. Finally, after what seemed like a long time being in a dive position we came to a safe landing at the Omaha, Nebraska airport. 4 med evac personnel came on and escorted the girl off the plane. She was able to walk off herself so I'm pretty sure she'll be fine.

This was my first emergency landing and now that I'm safe at home (although it caused about an hour delay) it seems kind of cool in retrospect.

the rest of vacation IN A NUTSHELL

it's been so long since I've posted that I think I'll just stick with the day by day picture-descriptions:

7/2

We went back to the Enchanted Forest for more fun. Lauren got brave and went down the slide by herself...quite a few times. Afterwards, we headed back over to Uncle Kevin and Aunt Mili's house for another delicious Peruvian dinner.

7/3

Back to the park at the bottom of Skinner's Butte. This time we brought Matt and we brought along a picnic lunch. The kids had fun playing in water and the sand there. We brought swimsuits this time. Here's a pic of Tyler swinging at the park.

The next day we packed up and caught a flight to Idaho. Grammy went with us for her first trip to the Potato State. Our first stop was at MeMa and Papa's house in Garden Valley.

Cousins Hailey and Cassiday

Tyler playing with cousin Madison

MeMa and Papa reading bedtime stories

Family picture in front yard of the Worley's "cabin"

Next stop: Boise, Idaho. Here we are with cousin Katlin at Grandma Jan and Grandpa Michael's house. (Aunt Carol is in the background.)

playing in the "swimming pool?" in G'ma Jan and G'pa Michaels courtyard

paddle boats at the park in downtown Boise.

Boise Nature Center

BBQ and pool time at cousin Madison's house.

Matt, Christine and Grammy

Big Boy Tyler on the plane ride home.

Sleepy boy Tyler on the plane ride home.

lotsa pictures, notamany words

6/23
We made it to the Portland airport! (l-r Lauren, Mommy Christine, Tyler, Aunt Mili)



6/24
Pizza Party in Junction City, OR. In attendance, (my) Uncle Butchy, Aunt Charlotte, Cousins Kelly & Kyle, cousin David and brother Brian, Mom - Gloria and Grandpa Barley (the kids's great grandpa)

Here is a pic of the kids and I with Uncle Brian. Lauren was quite aware the picture was being taken and chose to offer her profile to the camera.

6/25
Enchanted Forrest

"there was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile he had a crooked... ... ..." anyway - this was his house we visited.

Alice in Wonderland roller coaster. Such fun!!

down the roller coaster with Uncle Brian and Aunt Mili

back home at Uncle Kevin's and Aunt Mili's house. Uncle Kevin is winning the kids' affection.

We came back to their house for dinner and to spend time with Uncle Kevin after he finished working. The kids are really enjoying their Uncles (Brian & Kevin) and Aunt Mili and Grammy.

6/26
we took it easy today

6/27
Matt flew into town. Brad, Uncle Brian and I picked him up at the airport.

6/28
family get together at GG's house (Grandma Great.) We had fun visiting with all the cousins and uncles. It was pretty hot so we had fun in the bird bath and later in the mini swimming pool.

Isabella, Lauren and Tyler play in the bird bath.

fun in the mini pool

6/29
Barley family get together in Halsey, OR. Another fun fun day. Food inside, trucks and ball games outside and a pool and horse shoe tournament for the adults.

Tyler plays ball.

Uncle Kevin broke a Barley family record by winning both the pool tournament and also the horseshoe tournament. Here he is posing with his trophies.

6/30
Matt and I went wine tasting near Portland with Kevin and Mili while the kids went with Grammy to GG's house. Cousins Isabella and Conner (and mom ShaLee) came over to play too.

Here the kids are having a snack at GGs house.

7/1
Today Matt helped Brad at work. Our good friend ventured out on his own and is the proud owner of Brad's Car Tunes. Check him out here to get all of car audio and video needs met.

While Matt worked the day away the kids, Grammy and I went to a pretty cool park. It had lots of toys, sand and even water. That's a dangerous combination (sand & water) but luckily the kids stayed fairly clean.

playing in the sand

playing in the water

After the park we went to the 5th Street Public Market to eat lunch and also to visit the Elephant's Trunk toy store. Grammy bought each of the kids Thomas trains. Percy for Tyler and Molly for Lauren. As I type the kids are playing with these trains. I'm going to have to sign off now to get them settled into bed.

Have a good evening y'all.