analytics

November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving Weekend all Rolled Into One

Yup - totally a duplicate post. I'm leaving the other one up so Flickr can do some investigative work to see why their stuff isn't working. Meanwhile you can see pics here:

We may have had the most scenic Thanksgiving ever

111124-Thanksgiving_011

(yes, that is the golden gate bridge peeking up over there).

Some "big boy" cousins made a butter turkey
111124-Thanksgiving_014

Our contribution to the pot luck Thanksgiving was frying two turkeys
111124-Thanksgiving_053

With our electric fryer they only take 45 minutes each - and they are SO amazing. We've tried to out roast them and will challenge anyone to a Turkey cook off to see if they can beat the perfection of the fried brined turkey. Last year I did a fancy brine/herb butter rub/flipping the bird upsidedown to try to beat it and no dice. This year my mom thought hers would beat it out, but the winner was by far the fried birds.

Here is T yelling "HI HI HI"

111124-Thanksgiving_120


"A boo!"
111124-Thanksgiving_121

T played "HI" (hide) with his Bibi at the table and for the first time in a long time, I got to sit and enjoy my dinner and wine (dumol pinot - YUM). T had enough cousins in the VERY babyproofed house, that I didn't have to worry and he was plenty entertained.

Well, until someone left the baby gate open (See Bubbs running from across the room?)...
111124-Thanksgiving_036

We left on time. Which never happens. We left while the party was still going, but the boy wasn't out of control from exhaustion and we weren't too tired to debrief about the evening over a glass of wine.

Earlier that morning, Turner and I had started some Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.

(don't worry cousins, we used a different stick of butter).

Friday morning we rolled the dough out (super easy), put the gooey sugary amazingness in it, rolled it, cut it, and gave it one more rise.

Here they are in the moments before the magic happened...

And.

Once again.

I TOTALLY forgot to take pictures before we ate them.

The cousins came over...Mostly grownups, but some kids too.

The grownups talked and the kids played quietly (YAY) in the bedroom.

I think this was right before the moment where T started spitting in his cousins faces.





Cousin party ended at nap time.

We installed T's new Wee-Ride Kangaroo Bike seat (BIG HIT).

And.

We had a blissful ride around Lake Merced.

The boy LOVED his new bike. He sat without fighting with the helmet.

He rode with his hands on his knees and waved at the people as they jogged by.
2011-11-26 09.31.31

Then we chased ducks and had stale rice cakes as a snack.
2011-11-26 09.31.45

Against our better judgement we went to the Christmas tree parking lot. Yup, welcome to the city. An empty city lot with Christmas trees.

Turner didn't seem to care about all the trees.

But did love picking up the hay and putting it in the "enty" (empty) Christmas tree bowls.
2011-11-25 17.10.48

2011-11-25 17.10.11

2011-11-25 17.25.20

2011 Christmas Tree Photo
2011-11-25 17.31.08

2010 Christmas Tree Photo
IMG_4738

How many years can we do the picture on his dad's shoulders?

You think we can still do it when he's like 15?

Saturday we lazied and did laundry and decorated the tree.

I came to the conclusion that we shouldn't have jobs. And everyone gets to stay home all the time. And play. And make turkey soup.

Flickr can't get their act together

Hey folks,

I've been having intermittent problems with my photos not showing up.

Flickr's customer service has been contacted and despite their canned emails responses, they can't seem to figure out why other than blaming me (when I SO didn't do anything wrong)(though according to a simple google search this is a problem a lot of people have).

I'm leaving the post below with limited pictures because they can't "identify the problem" unless I leave them with the problem.

Please hold tight while Flickr tries to get their act together.

In the meantime, what photo hosting sites do you use? I need unlimited space and easy blogability. Preferably something that iphoto can load directly into (or easier than that if it exists).

Thanks!

November 29, 2011

Thanksgiving Weekend All Rolled into One Post

We may have had the most scenic Thanksgiving ever

111124-Thanksgiving_011
(yes, that is the golden gate bridge peeking up over there).

Some "big boy" cousins made a butter turkey
111124-Thanksgiving_014

Our contribution to the pot luck Thanksgiving was frying two turkeys
111124-Thanksgiving_053

With our electric fryer they only take 45 minutes each - and they are SO amazing. We've tried to out roast them and will challenge anyone to a Turkey cook off to see if they can beat the perfection of the fried brined turkey. Last year I did a fancy brine/herb butter rub/flipping the bird upsidedown to try to beat it and no dice. This year my mom thought hers would beat it out, but the winner was by far the fried birds.

Here is T yelling "HI HI HI"

111124-Thanksgiving_120


"A boo!"
111124-Thanksgiving_121

T played "HI" (hide) with his Bibi at the table and for the first time in a long time, I got to sit and enjoy my dinner and wine (dumol pinot - YUM). T had enough cousins in the VERY babyproofed house, that I didn't have to worry and he was plenty entertained.

Well, until someone left the baby gate open (See Bubbs running from across the room?)...
111124-Thanksgiving_036

We left on time. Which never happens. We left while the party was still going, but the boy wasn't out of control from exhaustion and we weren't too tired to debrief about the evening over a glass of wine.

Earlier that morning, Turner and I had started some Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.

(don't worry cousins, we used a different stick of butter).

Friday morning we rolled the dough out (super easy), put the gooey sugary amazingness in it, rolled it, cut it, and gave it one more rise.

Here they are in the moments before the magic happened...

And.

Once again.

I TOTALLY forgot to take pictures before we ate them.

The cousins came over...Mostly grownups, but some kids too.

The grownups talked and the kids played quietly (YAY) in the bedroom.

I think this was right before the moment where T started spitting in his cousins faces.





Cousin party ended at nap time.

We installed T's new Wee-Ride Kangaroo Bike seat (BIG HIT).

And.

We had a blissful ride around Lake Merced.

The boy LOVED his new bike. He sat without fighting with the helmet.

He rode with his hands on his knees and waved at the people as they jogged by.
2011-11-26 09.31.31

Then we chased ducks and had stale rice cakes as a snack.
2011-11-26 09.31.45

Against our better judgement we went to the Christmas tree parking lot. Yup, welcome to the city. An empty city lot with Christmas trees.

Turner didn't seem to care about all the trees.

But did love picking up the hay and putting it in the "enty" (empty) Christmas tree bowls.
2011-11-25 17.10.48

2011-11-25 17.10.11

2011-11-25 17.25.20

2011 Christmas Tree Photo
2011-11-25 17.31.08

2010 Christmas Tree Photo
IMG_4738

How many years can we do the picture on his dad's shoulders?

You think we can still do it when he's like 15?

Saturday we lazied and did laundry and decorated the tree.

I came to the conclusion that we shouldn't have jobs. And everyone gets to stay home all the time. And play. And make turkey soup.

November 28, 2011

DIY Choo Choo

This is not how the laundry basket and dolly were meant to be used.

2011-11-03 13.10.12

What mama came home to after a hard day of working.

Now, all laundry baskets get emptied immediately, Turner plops in them, and MAMA CHOOO CHOOO gets screamed until I come push him around the house.

And this isn't the worst of it.

Cold Weather Pick Me Up

Inspired by a blog I found on pinterest I decided to start up my couch to 5k running again.

I was doing well, but was mostly running at the gym (doing day 1 over and over again).

It was feeling good and I was noticing pain (which means muscles, right?).

Anyway, when Bubbs stopped working, we quit the gym and with he and the boy home, I felt super guilty spending my lunch break working out when I could be spending time with them.

So, my weight loss plateaued, and though I have maintained my weight, I feel stuck again.

Today, I paid to download a new app that helps me track and I actually did it during my lunch break.

I feel pretty darned good.

Why am I sharing it here?

Hopefully announcing it to all 60 of my regular readers will make me stay on track.

Toddler Safe Easy DIY Christmas Ornaments

This was our tree last year.

IMG_4739


T was JUST about to start crawling, so the tree was safe.

My fantastically vintage gold glass ornaments could be at all levels.
Plus, our more classic house called for a classic tree. All neutrals = gold and glass.

IMG_4760

But...

This boy
IMG_4729

Turned into THIS boy

(aren't leftovers great?)

There was no way I was going to chance 30+ glass balls (his favorite toy) with this monster around.

side note: every year bubbs and I argue over if the word is "bulbs" or "balls".

At my sister's party last week, I wanted to try this pinterest find:


I didn't get around to it in time, but got to thinking they would be really cool ornaments for the tree.

After visiting Michael's in a HELLISH Black Friday rush (I never go out on Black Friday, but really wanted a tree early this year), I came home with Elmer's glue, three colors of yarn, and a Christmas Tree (okay, the tree was from a lot).

So, the project.

Supplies Needed:
Yarn
*I think the less fluffy/thinner yarn looks WAY better than the thicker more "yarny" yarn
20 balloons
elmer's glue
shallow pan
string/rope/ribbon
something to hang them on
newspaper
wax paper
clothes pins

Steps:

1) Blow up balloons.



I should have gotten smaller balloons. The ones we got worked, but they were a little smushy and I think that created some problems. Anyway...

2) Cut up a TON of 3ft (1 yd) pieces of yarn.

3) Mix 1:1 ratio of water and glue.

4) Stir up your strings and get 'em nice and goopy.





5) Start layering them on the balloons.

Tighter is better and more is better. I wish I had done a TON more yarn. I was rushing and next year when I do it again, I'll do twice as much.

6) Hang your balloons with clothespins



Lesson Learned: glue goes through wax paper. Layer something else under the wax paper so you don't end up scrubbing glue off your dining room table.

7) Allow to dry overnight

8) With a sewing needle, pop the balloons.

9) Get super freaked out because it looks like your ornaments are dying.


10) Feel better because they pop mostly back into shape.


11) Once the balloon is all the way deflated, pull it out through one of the holes.

This is my favorite one :)


12) Attach ornament hooks and hang from tree






Last step: Learn to take better pictures of the tree