don't forget to vote

for the fidfam poll that is--over there off to the right. it's a fun new feature with blogger so i thought i'd try it out. i think the teacher in me loves any opportunity to write multiple choice answers ;) next week's poll will be a bit more personal. should the owen & cara component of fidfam stay in the OC or go scandanavian? hmmm. put that in your thinking caps ;)

riley's thankful thirteen

13. the turkey on thanksgiving
12. the pumpkin pie that my mom made
11. owen
10. victor
9. cheesecake
8. missy and jenni
7. grandma and grandpa
6. my WHOLE family! macy, papa, and mom
5. my friends
4. my teacher
3. to be invited to birthday parties
2. my toys, all of them
1. i'm thankful to be me!

thanksgiving thursday thirteen

i'm stealing this idea from d.'s post who borrowed it from z. and it's always a fun feature. it seems appropriate to launch it today, thinking of thirteen thanks.

13. whole food. i love that owen's alphabet includes words like asparagus and acorn squash; rutabaga and raddichio.
12. having parents who are phenomenal grandparents. this of course needs a thirteen of its own.
11. music. dancing, singing, bongo-druming, air-piano-playing, lalalalaing and the joy that goes with it.
10. choice. along with words like freedom, liberty, democracy, choice gets wrapped up in political agendas and become banal soundbites--but they're still important ideas to revisit, reinvigorate, and reconsider. atlantic monthly did a great feature on the american idea that i think provoked an important conversation. but i think of all the choices i do have, and the levels of choice--from where i live and where i eat to how i work and love.
9. good coffee. this, along with the other dozen, i've grown to love whether it is french press, stovetop, or espresso with michael--and no one makes a better "coffee house" latte!
8. the color green. when we first painted our living room green we had at any given point six or seven brushstrokes on the wall everything from key lime cream to burnt sienna sage until we found the shade that fit our lives. i remember the guy at home depot telling us that there are more shades of green than any other color--and it seems fitting as i look outside of the northwest window and see at least twentysix shades of green between the frosty grass and t he evergreen. i think it goes along with whole foods and living a thoughtful life that respects bees and trees.
7. virginia woolf. inspiration.
6. friends. for making cupcakes with. for celebrating wednesdays. for being there even when they're far far away. for being part of that thread.
5. alaska airlines mvp gold status. for making getting here and there and together easier.
4. sierradog. like number 3 he just gets better with age.
3. red wine. and i'll also sneak in dark chocolate.
3.brothers and sisters that make phenomenal aunties & uncles and a new generation of cousins. you know, family. for playing wii with. for drinking microbrews with. for sharing the thankful stuff with.
2. socks. fuzzy, argyle, stripey, knee-high. for keeping your feet warm
1. having love. i have a keychain that says 'live the life you love; love the life you live.' i bought it when owen was born to remind me that during a time of change. and i'm thankful everyday that michael and owen help make this possible.
bonus: new love. celebrating the new life on the way-- b.'s stella coming in april and s & j's baby cardinale coming in june. really, what could make us feel more thankful?

that was an easy thirteen and i can quickly think of a dozen more like looseleaf adagio teas, irish cheese, velvet pillows, making ravioli, hand-knit scarves, writing poems with three and six year olds, sidewalk chalk, roses, sesame street, real live friendly neighbors, postage stamps, ocean mist, being able to stay for the parade at disneyland, and zerberts from owen.

what are your thirteen?

we love jack

this morning i had what anne lamott might term a gluttonous morning--sleeping in nearly until ten while owen snuggled up with grandma connie and daddy and watched jack's big music show.
i know this because when i came downstairs bleary eyed owen joyously shouted: "mama! i'm a baby bongo bird and you're a mama bongo bird!" and he proceded to show me how to play the bongo drums on the ottoman, the couch, and my lap. we discovered jack and his musical friends a couple weeks ago and i find myself singing laurie berkner's "the cat came back" in my head (apparently she just did a song for weeds--which is next on my netflix queue) which was in our favorite episode featuring "scat cat"--a cat that mel (jack's dog) met at animal music camp--in which she teaches us all how to yes, scat. then of course there are the trachtenburg family slideshow players which to me seems right out of a vintage bettlejuice winona era. anyway, i'm thinking the music cd is on the top of our christmas list and i highly recommend tuning into a little jack. it'll start your day out right. and then of course being able to kiss owen byebye and go to work with daddy at the forza coffee shop in p-town and then having him shout with glee "i'm going to play with grandma!" is pretty swell.

day 1 - new site

We started working at another RR site here in Norway today -- on the island of Longva. This one has a bit more of an interesting commute. As you can tell from the map it involves a 45 minute ferry boat ride (to island of Haramsøy, the left side of that island) and then a 15 minute bus ride over to Longva. Total round trip costs 216 NOK (over $40) per person... We'll probably be here until end of June as the schedule is now. I'll post more pics from my commute over the next week... It's pretty dark here now during my commute however...

Map (my other site Tenfjord is also shown):



Marina in Haramsøy (summer, obviously not my pic):

eau de muffin

owen's latest explorations have been of the olfactory sort-- today while getting his tennis shoes on he said to me, "mommy i smell like dog food." we tested that out and fortunately, no, he did not smell like dog food and mommy tried to explain that dog food was a yucky smell and ummm soap was a nice smell.
so when we got shoes on he stopped on the steps and said "mommy, you smell like a muffin." which was a lovely compliment indeed since the very first thing he said when he woke up at 7 this morning was "mooommmmmmyyyy i need a carrot muffin!" and after an afternoon bath he was pleased to conclude that in fact he smelled like strawberries and not dog food. apparently he is an epicure in the making.

priceless

our wednesday adventure with our wednesday friends (b. & w.) took us to my favorite thing about so cal in november-- empty, misty, fall beaches. the boys had the run of the san clemente main beach-- chasing sandpipers, running like sand crabs, and singing "dig! dig! dig!" under the pier.

so here's where the priceless burb goes. one leica camera to document the the joy: $563. one box of trader joe's chocolate orange cupcake mix: $2.79. one grocery store soccer ball: $3.99. and then that ball got kicked into the ocean. and then owen ran to get the ball. and the sand pipers ate the cupcakes. and the camera fell in the ocean. so ummmm. one wednesday at the beach? i have to confess, it's still priceless.

new uses for old things

so this morning when i came home to find sierra's head covered in streaks of blood i thought of this regular feature in real simple--you know, like using dental floss to slice vintage gorgonzola. and it goes something like this:

(caveat: this is neither a technically "new" use nor an "old" thing)

tattoo waterproof bandages

original purpose: keeping little boo boos clean (or keeping the children's tylenol company in the bathroom because the mere mention of band-aid is enough to cause absolute hysteria and thus rendering the need for boo boo control unnecessary)

aha! use: keeping a minor cut contained on a dog's ear so that it does not smack against the side of his head and leave bloody welts every time he shakes his head causing one to panic that there has been a major accident or that a small animal has died and been flung against the wall

reward: shiny, happy people; and, of course a dog who is not bleeding everywhere

other uses: emergency stickers to soothe said hysteria

note: sierra is wearing marlin and shark from the finidng nemo variety pack and was stoically cooperative--the first set of bandages lasted all day and removal for a second round was painlessly executed

how to make orange chocolate cupcakes

first, juice the oranges:



then, once you have combined all ingredients whisk well:

so lest you think it's all fun and frolick here, o. and i got sucked into this amazing pbs documentary on the disapearance of bees. we were playing with our bugs in a box and it seemed fun, but it was actually quite fascinating and frightening--the bottom line is that if the bees continue to disappear at the current rate (of an aids-like disease called CCD) we will all be eating gruel by the year 2035 and the earth will be a greyer place. perhaps in addition to planting pumpkin seeds (owen's latest obsession) we might just become beekeepers to help keep the color lavender in the world.

of course we can't forget d-i-s-n-e-y-l-a-n-d

this year we all got socal disney passes to mickey's house but learned the hard way that you do not tell a toddler you are going to disneyland until you are packed and ready to get in the car. and even then it's tricky. but we had a relaxing day with nana & papa strolling around that big playground in anaheim. here are a few of our favorite moments:

"daddy, i rode the rocket ships with YOU!"


hanging out by the castle in our mickey hats:


look at my pink dolphin! mommy won it with me in california adventure land!


"i'm big! i'm big!" (37 inches!) "let's ride the ladybugs!"

and speaking of harvest

today we went down to the harvest festival where owen got to hug three sheep, take two pony rides and milk one pretend cow. edy & jerry (of the "you've got a beard!" fame) came out for the day and joined us for the fall frolicking and some ribs and spicy sausages (and of course cotton candy). here's a still slideshow from the afternoon:

speaking of happy pumpkins

here is owen's happy pumpkin glowing over our roast harvest vegetables and barefoot contessa/ jamie oliver inspired roasted chicken. i massaged a butter- thyme -proscuitto mixture under the skin which drizzled onto the squash medley (jamie) and then slabbed some proscuitto on top of the chicken breast to crisp up which i then later added to our spinach salad (contesssa). mmmmm. i love the fall harvest! and although i didn't get any pics we enjoyed our cupcakes with some hearty minestrone which was soup-tacular (yes, really i did just write that) by the addition of a quick homemade pasta (simple 1 cup/2 egg mixture in the food processor) with fresh lemon thyme and rosemary. and right now i'm going to pull a roasted pork out of the oven--a simple trader joe's recipe we're testing out with some pork sirloin and peach salsa. we'll report back on that one!

super owen's halloween appearance

we enjoyed our first year of trick or treating out here at the ranch-- owen loved getting into his costume and spelling out superwords on his superalphabet pants! he liked ringing doorbells but was more interested in walking into people's houses than collecting candy-- and then he wanted to hold the chocolate in his hand and absolutely not surrender it to the pumpkin basket. but on the subject of pumpkins, happy ones are best. we managed half a dozen houses or so before the scary ones (pumpkins and ghosties) became too much and it was time to come home for these fabulous choco-delicious cupcakes (highly recommended!).