Asher LOVES flowers. Around here people plant flowers in these little garden beds on the street in front of their house. We usually try to make him look from behind the fence but he really likes to get up close and personal with every single flower we pass. He’s been learning his colors so its great practice. “a peenk fah-lah! a pupple fah-lah!” its just too cute. We have made multiple friends on our block due to his obsession and they all comment on how observant he is. We helped Mary plant some plants in front of her house. He watched her dig in the dirt, plant the bulb and water it and we even found a worm. Arthur came down from his stoop when he saw us admiring his new flowers that he planted because the tree in front of his house had to be torn down, and we even met Andrew, a 17month old, and helped his mom and grandma clear small rocks out of their “garden.” (a 4×3 box of dirt on their stoop) Lucky for him we are a 15 minute walk from the botanic garden, and lucky for me it’s free on Tuesdays.
See what I did there? I pretended an entire month did not pass without a photo. I TOOK photos but the combo of 18 hr work days (Matthew) a week’s vacation in San Francisco and Monterey (all of us) 14 hr works days (Matthew again) no internet (our stupid apartment) and a bad cold (Meeeeeeeeeee!) I just haven’t been on my computer much at all. I’ve been really busy enjoying the beautiful weather with Asher. On top of that my blog server changed so I am in the process of redoing everything – if you aren’t seeing this in your reader that’s why – and its taking up much of my blog time.
Rising with the sun and spending long days outside lead to an early bedtime for me, but I will try to post when I can!
Matthew has been crazy busy since he got home from the Superbowl. He recently did the Lighting Design for 2 web-only shows so I thought it would be fun to share his work since you’ll never see it on the TeeVee.
The first one was Live in NYC: The National (for MTV)
The next is a show Matthew does for Engadget on a monthy basis called The Engadget Show where they talk about new electronics and techy stuff. This one was a bit larger than usual because it was a world premiere of something or other. Flying cars? I dunno.
Last year for Channukah we experimented with a new recipe. I had read about it in Food and Wine and being a lover of all things Gail I really wanted to try them.
My mom came to visit and made them and they were so delicious we made them again this year. We had a bit of a pot luck Channukah feast last week with Dan and Jen bringing her AMAZING matzoh ball soup and a delicious goat cheese and pear salad, seriously she makes the best salads so I always make her bring one. My mom made her famous meatballs and of course the latkes, and Matthew delivered a perfectly cooked roast beef. Ramona saved the day with her homemade rugelach and snickerdoodles or we wouldn’t have had much dessert at all.
Do yourself a favor and make these. You don’t have to wait for Channukah! They would be great in a mini size for a party and they freeze well and reheat. Don’t forget the sour cream and applesauce for dipping, even though my dad will tell you to sprinkle them with sugar.
INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and halved
1 large yellow onion, cut into 8 wedges
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons chopped dill (we leave this out)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Canola oil, for frying
Applesauce and sour cream, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Set a large strainer over a bowl. In a food processor fitted with the shredding disk, shred the potatoes and onion in batches. Add each batch to the strainer and let stand for 5 minutes, then squeeze dry. Pour off all of the liquid in the bowl and add the shredded potatoes. Stir in the flour, eggs, dill, salt and baking powder. Scrape the mixture back into the strainer and set it over a bowl; let stand for 5 minutes.
In a very large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of canola oil until shimmering. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture into the canola oil for each latke, pressing slightly to flatten. Fry over moderate heat, turning once, until the latkes are golden and crisp on both sides, about 7 minutes. Drain the latkes on a paper towel–lined baking sheet. Serve the latkes hot with applesauce and sour cream
Today we picked up our Christmas Tree – the first we have had since 2004. For the past 10 years or so we worked it out so that we visit Matthew’s family in Vancouver one year and celebrate on our own the next. The past 2 “off” years we traveled to Europe on Christmas Day, making it pretty pointless to have a tree.
This time we thought it would be best to stay home and start some traditions of our own.
One of the things Matthew wanted to do was take Asher tree shopping so off we went. They sell trees on our corner, and 2 blocks away but we decided to head a little further down the road so we could buy our tree from the Old First Nursery people. The Annual Christmas Tree Sale makes up a huge amount of the fundraising efforts for their preschool and being neighborhood parents we thought it made sense to help them out.
Tomorrow’s big task, looking through decorations that haven’t been opened in 6 years. I have a feeling there will be a trip to the donation center in our future…
meals cooked: 2
hours worked: a brazillion
cases of bronchitis: 1 (so far)
new words: 10+…spoon, meow, moo, baaa, broccoli, bus, bowl, water, tree, berry
new signs: 1…cereal
guitar lessons: 1 BLTs from choice market eaten by me: 2
trips to the park with Jackie: 17
music classes: 2
playdates with the babyfriends: 1
cupcakes: ZERO
5:30pm Dinnertime.
Tonight he had homemade whole wheat mac and aged cheddar cheese with chicken, cauliflower and peas. A few raspberries for dessert.
6:00-6:15pm Bath/PJs.
Tonight he played with disposable plastic cups and practiced his pouring skills. Fleece footies because its chilly.
6:15pm-6:30pm Milk/Books/Cuddle.
Tonight his first choice was ‘Chicka Chicka Boom Boom’
6:30-6:45pm Bedtime
While Asher hugs me goodnight, Matthew goes into his room to get his soother and blanket. When he walks back in Asher grabs the soother and shoves it in his mouth then reaches up to Matthew.
He lays his head on the blanket then quickly pops back up.
He waves to me – “Night-Night Mommy”
He waves to Kitty – “Night-Night Kitty”
He puts his head back down and they walk out.
Tonight I followed them out of the room and into the hall, on my way to get some water. At the last moment I decided to follow them into his room for another quick kiss. I got it just in time, because before I could turn around he was waving goodbye to me and CLOSING THE DOOR IN MY FACE.
About a month ago we finally broke down and bought a 2nd stroller for traveling. After much back and forth I decided on the maclaren quest (over the uppa baby gluxe) We had originally planned to buy one back in may but considering all the obsessing over my main stroller, 4 months wasn’t really all that bad. The biggest deciding factor was that we were leaving for Montreal in a few days and the maclaren was in stock.
My report on the quest:
Pros:
Its light (especially if you’ve been driving a tank for 14 months)
It has a carrying strap
Cons:
Its not for tall people, our feet hit the bar and the handles are way too low
It doesnt seem that comfy for Asher
Its not THAT easy to close
It rides like crap on the city streets
You have to use 2 hands to steer
It tips over easily
The basket is a joke
So yeah, WAY more cons than pro but I have a feeling thats more to do with the fact that its a lightweight umbrella stroller and not a beefcake strolling stroller.
Would I use this for everyday? No way. I walk 2-3 miles a day on average, and this thing is not meant for that, its pretty obvious.
It is a dream for travel though, and much easier to throw in and out of the car. I find that we still use the Vista 99% of the time. Its just much better for tall people, 1 handed steering, maneuvering weird city blocks, off-roading in the park and schlepping groceries home from the market. If you don’t have to do that on a daily basis the maclaren is a great option and I love having a choice of what to use.
Now I’m just waiting for the Vista to break/get stolen/disappear so I can get me a 2010 Bee.
