Heart Attack on a Plate

So, Charles sent me a link for this recipe: Bacon Explosion. It was forwarded to him by a buddy from work. I'm going to give it a try tonight, since I happen to have most of the ingredients on hand and my bacon and sausage are about to expire. I'll be cutting the recipe in half, though. I don't think our little family needs a four pound log of bacon and sausage. Two pounds is more than enough. I'm going to make mashed potatoes to go with it, and some veggies. I suspect it will probably last a couple of days. But Charles does like meat. And I have to admit to being a bacon fan. And a fan of BBQ sauce. If I only eat a slice of it, it shouldn't be too bad. I'll let you know how it turns out. Perhaps some of your meat-loving husbands would like it. All my brothers are drooling over the recipe.

So, my knee is finally doing better enough that I've been walking Ruby to school again. I started walking again on Wednesday. I was still wearing my leg brace thingy the first two days, but I couldn't find it this morning and did okay without it even though I was hurrying. I'm enjoying walking again. It is a huge stress reliever and I've noticed that I'm much more prone to back pain and headaches when I'm not walking. Also, dealing with the car and taking Charles to work and picking him up in the evening was getting to be a pain. I prefer not using the car unless I need it for something else.

Yesterday was our weekly trip to the library. Russell checked out a "Bob the Builder" DVD. He loves Bob and does this often, but we haven't seen this particular one before. Anyway it's a super cheesy western one and the kids think it's hilarious. There's this one part where Spud, the scarecrow, farts a whole bunch with super obvious sounds like someone blowing raspberries on their hand or something. The kids just laugh their heads off at this and think it is the height of comic genius. They're practically rolling on the floor saying, "Mom, Spud is farting!" Ah, to be young.

I think I'm going to skip the February trip to Utah. I'd like to do it because I think temple open houses are a good opportunity for the kids, but I prefer not to do whirlwind trips like that and I don't want to risk the bad weather. Perhaps the other temple being built in South Jordan will be finished and open to the public at a more advantageous time of year so I can take the kids to that one.

Like my new background?

I snagged this background from my awesome friend Alison's template blog. She made it. If you'd like to check out her templates, there's a link in the sidebar.

Some new photos

Ruby & Russell decorate a gingerbread house

Ruby & her friend with Santa. Ruby was too nervous to visit him alone.

Russell with Santa. Russell wasn't a bit afraid of him.

Ruby & Russell at the Oakland Zoo in November.

Ruby & Russell show off the new outifts they got from Granny Spud for their Build-A-Bear toys.

Russell enjoys one of Baskin Robbins' 31 flavors on Halloween.

Ruby loves her Rainbow Sherbet.

Russell on Halloween. I don't know why the picture loaded sideways.

Ruby at school on Halloween

Ruby and Russell enjoy a ride at Chuck E. Cheese. We went there to
celebrate Russell's 3rd birthday.

Ruby and her Build-A-Bear, which she also named Ruby. Granny Spud
took the kids to make these when she was here in October.

Russell built a dog instead of a bear. This is Fluffy. Russell had taken a nose-dive
down the stairs onto the concrete that morning. That's why he has the giant
band-aid on his forehead and a scraped up nose.

I love this picture of Russell, despite the scraped up face and the blue marker that
Ruby drew on him with. Maybe I can photoshop it or something. This was taken
on The Carousel at Arena Green on Russell's 3rd Birthday.

A New President

I couldn't help watching the inauguration today. I cannot say that I voted for our new president, but I think it's a great thing for our country that we were finally able to put a black man in the White House. I have to admit that I was a little emotional watching this and thinking about how we are experiencing a day that will surely go down in history.

I am hopeful that President Obama will be able to use the good will he has generated to make a positive difference in the way this country is run. I was particularly struck by the prayers that were included in the ceremony--and somewhat surprised to see that prayer is still a part of this process. I thought during these prayers about what they were saying. At some parts I wondered if they were really praying or speech-making, but the overall idea of commending this new first family to the protection of God and praying that our president will be able to lead with integrity and honor and wisdom really struck me.

We had a lesson in church on Sunday about leadership and the one of the ladies there mentioned that we ought to pray for the leaders of our country as well as the leaders of our church. She quoted Ezra Taft Benson saying that his family always prayed for the leaders of our nation when he was a child, but he doubted whether that practice had been carried into subsequent generations. I thought about that today and I decided to kneel down and pray for our new president. I prayed for the things that I hope--that he will be able to do what is best for our country and help our country to heal from the various problems afflicting it right now.

It's a new year, a new presidential administration, and a new era in American history. May we move forward with hope and progress as we do as President Obama requested and return to the values upon which this country was founded.

Peanut Butter Recall

Just in case any of you haven't heard, there's been a recall of some peanut butter products used in food service and food production. I had heard that Keebler recalled their peanut butter crackers and stuff, but assumed that my Austin crackers were safe. Not so. I just got a call from Costco informing me that Austin crackers are also included in the recall. Apparently Keebler, Austin and Famous Amous are all subsidiaries of Kellogg's and are all included in the recall. And the FDA has confirmed that salmonella has been found in some Austin peanut butter crackers. Here's a link with more info. So, if you've got some of these crackers, throw them away. I'm wondering now if perhaps my kids' vomiting might not be related to the crackers. They have been eating them recently. But so have I and I'm okay. Hopefully it's just a run of the mill stomach virus.

An interesting week

So, I sprained my knee about a week and a half ago. I sprained it doing something really exciting--walking through my apartment. I think I was trying to avoid stepping on one of the million things the kids had left on the floor, but I can't say for sure. It was all very sudden and unexpected. So, I've been having to use the car to take Ruby to and from school. No school today, though. Or tomorrow. I'm hopeful that I'll be up to making the walk again by Wednesday. Of course, it's supposed to rain on Wednesday.

There are some definite perks to living in this area, even if the price of housing is not one of them. It's been in the 70's for the past week. Yes, in the 70's for over a week. In the middle of January. Ha ha!

Charles lucked out and got a pair of free tickets to two Sharks games last week. One set he had gotten for Christmas and it was for the game against Calgary so he decided to take our friend Ryan, who is from Canada and is a big Calgary fan. I generally encourage him to take friends along when he gets the ticket because it's more fun for him to go with someone who is really into the game and have a guys' night out. And we don't have to find a baby-sitter. Anyhow, Tuesday he happened to have some tickets given to him that day by a former co-worker who is a season ticket holder and couldn't attend. We called everyone we could think of who might want to go with him (though I did think of one other person afterward) and everyone was busy. So, my friend Sara offered to watch the kids and Charles and I had a date. It was my first time attending an NHL game, though I had previously attended a game of the Las Vegas Thunder (remember that, Lisa?) and seen the Provo Ice Cats play. I do like Hockey and actually know a little bit about it, so it was fun. Thanks, Sara!

Last Monday our apartment complex began ripping up sidewalks and replacing them. They gave us no warning that they were doing this, except for a note placed on our doors as the jackhammers started. I was pretty mad about this, especially considering my sprained knee and the fact that they started with the part of the walkway at the base of my stairs. Yet another reason why I hate the management at this complex. Russell and I spent the morning trapped in our apartment with the windows closed even though the weather was screaming for us to open the windows. We had to leave very carefully to get Ruby and come back in just as carefully over the rubble. The next day I left for the morning to take Ruby to school and then did some shopping and hung out at my visiting teacher's apartment until it was time to get Ruby. Then Ruby had a play date with a friend, so Russell and I went and picked up Charles and went out to lunch. We picked Ruby up from her playdate at three and then ventured home. We learned then that they would be pouring cement the next day. Well, they were already placing the rebar and everything really early the next morning (like around 7) so we packed for the day before taking Charles to work in the morning. We took Ruby to school and then Russell and I spent the day hanging out at my dad's house. Since I have to pick up Ruby at 12:45, I didn't want to risk being trapped in our apartment. Well, as we were leaving the school from picking Ruby up, Russell puked. Luckily it shot out of him and none actually got on him. He didn't puke any more, but he was running a fever. We went back to my dad's for a while and then arrived home around 4:00, just as the work crew was packing up. It was perfect timing. (They put plywood down so we could get to our stairway as long as we didn't mind climbing through bushes, too). Super fun with a sprain. Russell napped for a while and I gave him some Tylenol and then he was fine after that. It was a less-than-24-hour bug.

Well, Saturday night Ruby was griping and moaning that she wasn't feeling well and thought she was going to throw up. Stomach bugs usually hit her hard, so I was all prepared to stay home from church with her on Sunday. But, I was very surprised to find in the morning that she hadn't thrown up and was feeling fine--was even full of energy. So I thought we lucked out and the bug was past. No such luck. She started puking during the night last night. I had made arrangements to baby-sit one of Ruby's friends today. Her daycare is closed for the holiday but her parents don't get the day off. Neither does Charles. We were planning to go to the Children's Discovery Museum. Of course our plans changed. I'm still baby-sitting Jane, but we're at home. Ruby alternates between swearing she's fine and begging to go outside to play and being completely miserable. She's laying in bed now.

I gave Charles and Russell haircuts Saturday night. I always cut Charles' hair. It's an easy style and saves $$$. I cut Russell's, too, but he gets his cut less often. Well, I took advantage of his desire to be like Daddy and cut his hair right after I finished with Charles. They got identical haircuts. A two on top and a one on the sides. Russell looks much better without the poofy hair. He wore his suit to church on Sunday and looked very handsome. People were commenting on how cute he looked in his suit with his hair cut. I intended to take a picture of it, but didn't get a chance before he got chocolate on his suit.

Russell's been growing a lot lately. He's getting very tall and lean and looks very much like a little boy instead of a toddler. People always think he's at least a year older than he is. He's only about 2 1/2 inches shorter than Ruby now and they wear the same size shoe. I think he's definitely going to take after his "Heepaw" Pogue and be very tall. Now, if we could just get him potty trained. He did surprise us and stay dry overnight Saturday night.

I got a couple of gift certificates for Christmas and decided to spend them on pampering myself. I got a Homedics Shiatsu massaging seat cushion with heat. (It's a seat cushion, but it massages your back, not your "seat.") I've been using it on the couch. It's great. Now I just need to put some really relaxing music on my mp3 player and lock up the kids when I use it and it'll be a perfect little break for me.

To Utah or not to Utah?

I've been pondering the idea of taking a very short trip out to Utah for the Draper temple open house. Ruby has four day weekends for Martin Luther Kind Day and President's day. I think it would be nice to take the kids to it, but it's not exactly the best time of year to be traveling. Weather is a really big consideration. Plus, it'd be a REALLY short trip. Then there's the issue of who to stay with if I go.... I'd also either have to have Ruby skip school one day or else do a temple tour Monday morning and then head home right after. Of course, I'd still have Sunday available for visiting. The President's day weekend is the only weekend of the two I'm looking at that still has tour tickets available for Saturday and Monday. Of course Martin Luther King weekend is the first weekend of the open house, so it's no surprise that those are gone already. I'm still really debating what to do. Any comments or suggestions from the peanut gallery?

Do you have an ugly couch?

Okay, I just happened upon this when I was on AOL checking my email. Apparently there is a contest for the ugliest couch in the world and this has photos of some current entrants and past winners. They are pretty bad... and great if you need a laugh. It makes me grateful that my couch and love seat are fairly decent looking, even if they are hand-me-downs from the 70's.

Ugliest Couches in the World

Things Russell has done in the past couple weeks

Here's a sampling of things Russell has delighted me with in the last couple weeks. He:

1--Loosened the lid on a Costco size container of Taco Seasoning and then threw it across the living room. The lid came off and taco seasoning filled the carpet.
2--Dumped a box of baking soda in the living room carpet.
3--smeared half a jar of peanut butter in the living room carpet and all over a step-stool from the bathroom.
4--smeared a stick of margarine in the living room carpet
5--dumped about half a bottle of blue raspberry flavored snow cone syrup in his bedroom carpet.
6--dumped a bunch of water and juice into the bread machine on top of the dough that had just finished kneading.
7--cut holes in my nice, expensive sheets (not sure if this was him or Ruby)
8--dumped a whole bottle of silver paint onto the red sign I had just painted and was letting dry.

On the plus side, I shampooed my living room carpet last week. Of course, since the margarine was today, I have to do it again. I have definitely gotten my money's worth out of the Hoover Steam Vac I bought when Ruby was about 15 months old. I've had it over 4 years now and have used it at least every three months. There were some time periods in there when I was using it every day. That was Ruby's poop-smearing phase. Boy am I glad Russell has not had a similar phase---You hear that sound? That's me knocking on wood.

Of course, amid all his mess making, he likes to crawl into my lap and give me a hug and say, "I wuv you, Mommy." It's hard to stay mad for too long. He's just so darn cute.

The Digger

The San Jose Water Company (which is a private entity not owned by the city) has decided to replace all the old fire hydrants with new ones before the end of the year. There have been a couple of crews working on this in the neighborhood between our apartment and Ruby's school. Last week we just happened to walk past one as they finished using the jack hammer on the sidewalk around the fire hydrant. We decided to stand and watch them dig up the area around the hydrant. They had a big Cat bulldozer/digger that they used to dig up the sidewalk and the dirt about four feet down. Russell thought this was great. Even I thought it was pretty cool. I was amazed at how smoothly this thing worked. It almost seemed like it was an animal digging with its hands. We watched for about an hour, which is when the crew decided that the pipes were weird there and they were going to have to come back another day and dig up the street, too. I had to drag the kids home.

The day before that Russell and I watched a crane lifting roof panels from a truck onto the new building under construction at Ruby's school. Russell just loves that kind of stuff. He's really into Bob the Builder and tools and big machines.

Saturday was an event at Ruby's school called "Holiday in the Garden." The "garden" part is because the school is in the Rose Garden area of San Jose. It is, in fact, across the street from the Rose Garden. It's a big fundraiser for the PTO (similar to PTA). They decorate the kindergarten area and have booths and food and other things for sale and various performances and a silent auction. The kinders and first graders kicked it off with singing several songs. Ruby was very cute. I helped set up that morning. I also made a "north pole" for the decorations around our classroom. It was a six foot tall PVC pipe with red tinsel around it in a tree stand. I painted up a sign for it that said "north pole." It turned out pretty well, despite some attempts by my children to sabotage the project (one of which involved Ruby painting my kitchen cabinets red and another of which involved Russell dumping my entire bottle of silver paint on the sign). I decided to donate the north pole to the PTO for use in future years. I don't really have anywhere to put it. It did look really nice with the other decorations, though. Our classroom area was decorated so nicely that the PTO decided to have the Santa pictures in front of our display instead of inside the classroom.

Well, I'm off to dinner with some friends from our ward.