Beef in the news

Every now and then we entertain buying and eating meat from our farm. But, I'm still not comfortable with buying it at the grocery store...two articles in the past couple of days that I've stumbled across. Honest, I'm not looking for this!

Rethinking the Meat Guzzler (New York Times)

Video of workers abusing cows raises food safety questions (CNN)

Treefrogs @ Kidspace

One of Clara's teachers started a website about their room. "Kid Quotes" rock...
(Jenn, Consetta, and Galen are the teachers)

"I smell cats! You smell like cats."- Nic to Jenn
"Is that a good smell or a yucky smell?"- Jenn to Nic
"It's a good smell!"- Nic, 1.18.08

"I lost my penis!"- Clara, while having diaper changed, 1.15.08

"It's crunchy out there. Crunch, crunch!"- Ryden, after our snow/ice storm, 1.15.08

"My ding-dong doesn't work."- Payton, while discussing doorbells with Galen, 1.14.08

"The bear left...he went out the door to outside then to his car and he drove to the zoo, to have dinner."- Josie, talking about the bear in the core, 1.8.08

"Ouch! I don't like that!" -Clara to the top of our climber after she bumped her head on it. (9.21.07)

"I need some coffee." - Aiden (9.20.07)

"I don't like spiders. They have too many hands." - Julian (9.14.07)

"A free time that never ends." - Joise to Consetta when asked about her dream at nap time. (9.6.07)

"Scoop it...Good boy Galen." - Clara to Galen while playing with sand together.8.24.07

"I'm a busy-body!" - Josie (8.23.07)

new things

Our old rice cooker burnt up so we decided to splurge on a Zojirushi. It came yesterday. And it's super cute. I also got some new cookbooks. Thinking I was going to be at work today, Jeff & I prepped a recipe (No Hurry Vegetable Curry) from "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" last night. I popped it into the crockpot for it's slow cook this morning. The Zojirushi comes with this neat feature that lets you program it to have your rice done cooking at the time you tell it to. I was a little nervous trying that on its first use but luckily I'm home with wonky-eyed Emmett (see below) today so I just set it up to make my rice for dinner in a few hours. It played a happy little tune "ABCDEFG, next time won't you sing with me" (okay no words, just the tune) when I was done. That will sure make Clara happy.

Speaking of Clara, she's been quite funny this week. Some new sayings:
"Grampa, you're freaking me out!"
"Tough Nuggets!"
"Rock On" (complete with what she calls "bat" fingers)

milk woes

So I was thinking yesterday that I'd like to start buying local milk and eggs and ideally have it delivered, you know, milkman style. We're going through quite a bit of milk every week for the kids. Smith Brothers is the place I've heard the most about. But...due to some government regulations that make it really hard to have a dairy on the same land you have cattle, they had to sell off their herd and now buy milk from a co-op. But I wanted to go to the source. So I kept looking. I read a bunch about Wilcox Farms which sounds interesting cause they've got "Salmon Safe" certification and are doing a lot of "green" practices. But...again they ran into the regulations problem and had to sell off their herd...though I read an article that says they're trying to bring a couple hundred cattle back for their organic milk. I think it's when you get over 300 cows you start running into problems. Both Smith & Wilcox are pretty big operations. Wilcox is actually sold at Costco. I wouldn't mind going more mom & pop. So I posted a message to my vegetable farm box subscribers asking if any of them had recommendations. And one person responded that she uses SPUD which I'd been thinking about off and on too...it's really hard grocery shopping with the two kids in tow! Anyway they supply milk from a couple of smaller local farm/dairies. But it's creamtop or raw milk. And I am not sure about doing that. So I'm still looking. But it's making me sad that it is hard to find. I haven't been to the farmer's market in a couple of months. Maybe I'll go see if anyone shows up there and/or ask around. I suppose it's funny that I live in a big city and I'm looking to find a small farm to supply my milk and eggs.

Mama's boy

The doc says it's not pinkeye and should clear up in a coupla days. Phew.

Let's Play "Name that Loon"

You know you want to write a caption for this one!

mama

riding in the car...
clara: mama.
jill: yes?
clara: mamamamamama
jill: (silence)
clara: mama. mamamamamama.
jill: what?
clara: mom. mamamama. (increased pitch)
jill: clara, what?!! please use your words!
clara: mamamamamamamama
jill: (silence while gritting teeth))
clara: can i have a cracker? (high pitched whiny baby voice)
jill: no. we've talked about this! we don't have any snacks left. you've eaten them all already. we're almost home. can't you just sing a song for us?
clara: i want a crackkkeerrr!
jill: clara! you're driving me crazy! can't you please sing a song? how about abcd?
clara: no, i don't wanna sing abcd!
jill: fine, how about twinkle twinkle!
clara: i don't know twinkle.
jill: fine, pick another song.
(silence.)
(silence.)
clara: mom.
jill: (silence)
clara: mom. mamamama.
jill: (silence)
clara: mamamamamamama
jeff: clara, STOP IT!!! USE YOUR WORDS! WHAT DO YOU WANT?! QUIT SAYING YOUR MOM'S NAME OVER AND OVER!!!
(silence)
(silence)
clara: mama. mama. mama. my mommy!
jeff & jill: ERGH!!
clara: mama. mama. mamamamama.
jeff: CLARA! it is NOT NICE to keep saying your mom's name over and over and over! quit it! how would you like it if someone said your name over and over?! claraclaraclaraclaraclaraclaraclaraclaraclaraclara
jill: jeff! i spy with my little eye something green
clara: i don't wanna spy!!
jeff & jill: ERGH!!

i'm not sure we're going to survive much longer. we're trying. but...
clara talks nonstop whenever we're in the car (which thankfully is usually just 15 minutes at a time). we're her captive audience. and usually it's to hear her constantly say mama. mommy. my mommy! the girl has a huge vocabulary. a huge song repertoire. and still she can't seem to get out of her catatonic mama state in the car. oof.

Day 9

It's Day 9 of the PinkEye drama. Went to an eye specialist a couple days ago and he said it was a viral form of pink eye. In extreme cases they prescribe an antibiotic drop with a steroid. He said I looked like I'd suffered enough and got some for me. He told me to do 4 doses per day and that I should get in 4 doses that first day even though it was already 4:30pm. It helped! My basset hound-like swollen eyes now look nearly normal though I've got a bruise where one of the under-eye bags used to live.


Luckily (for Jeff) I documented what led up to it. Today was my first day back to work since I got called to pick up a fevery Emmett on 12/20. I put in eyedrops before I went to work. My boss said my eyes looked like I'd been swimming in Chlorine. By the end of the day they were getting pretty sore and kinda itchy again...and more red. I was happy to get home to my eyedrops. I hate eyedrops but I don't know what I would've done without them these past 9 days.

owie eyes

On Thursday afternoon my eye started feeling like I had something in it. So I itched it. And itched some more. The next morning I woke up with both eyes crusted over and so swollen I couldn't keep them open. Jeff managed to get me into a doctor that morning and the doc thought I was having allergy-induced pink eye. We told him it was 3 days before Jeff's brother's wedding and we needed it taken care of ASAP. He said to take Claritin and some over the counter eye drops and it would clear up in a few days. That afternoon the swelling went down quite a bit. My eyes just looked like I'd been crying a bit. I'd been told I wasn't contagious so I went off with the gals for a pre-wedding mani/pedi outting and dinner. My eyes were getting really achey by the end of the night but I didn't have any swelling. On Saturday I woke up to a swollen mess again and started getting really tender spots on my jawline and Jeff started feeling like one of his eyes was going bad. So we went to an urgent care clinic together. We asked to be seen together. I wore dark glasses because my eyes were bright red and swollen. I think most people probably thought we were there for some STD checkup or something. The nurses and doctor were pretty grossed out when I took my glasses off. The doctor pretty much kept her distance from both Jeff and me and just wrote out a prescription for bacterial pinkeye treatment. She said I also had some cellulitis causing the swelling. So that was 3pm and we were on 24 hour countdown to the wedding now. We missed out on the rehearsal dinner and all the pre-wedding fun (some of which I'd even planned!). Needless to say we were sooo bummed. We put in our eyedrops even more often than we were supposed to for several hours in the hopes we'd be okay by today, wedding day, and went to bed. I woke up this morning looking like this:


That's as far as my eyes open cause it's all swollen above and below them. You can kind of see weird puckering next to my eyes where it goes back down to where everything is supposed to live. My face is kinda puffy and swollen too. It was actually pretty uncomfortable going to sleep cause I have weird lumps (lymph nodes?) swelling up in my face. I've been trying to lay with my eyes closed most of the morning and the swelling is going down a little bit. But my eyes are very red and watery. So I'm not sure if I'm going to make it to the wedding or not. Jeff's one eye is still red but doesn't look too horrible. He'll be through 24 hours of antibiotic so will be through the contagious period in another couple of hours just as he's supposed to meet the rest of the groomsmen for lunch. I'm still not even convinced that this weird mutant thing going on with me is pink eye. I haven't had any goopiness in my eyes. They're just red and swollen. I dunno. So far nothing is helping them.

Christmas pics

We had a great time on Christmas, having all the Washington family over to our house for gifts and food (so much food!). It even surprised us all and snowed!

Click the photo to see more...

mama's little miracle

I referred to something as a miracle today. Clara said, "Mama, that's not a miracle." So I asked her what a miracle was to which she replied, "A miracle is when it snows on Christmas." Yep, we had just such a "miracle" yesterday.

Family Photos

We heart Della Chen (dellachen.blogspot.com). We had a blast during our "Day in the Life" photoshoot. Here's an excerpt she put together for us: http://www.dellachen.com/client_access/West/

Warmfuzzy commercial - The Aviator

This was posted by BoingBoing as one of the Top 10 Tech Ads (Not Necessarily) Seen in 2007:



I sure hope Clara turns out to be a 'Maker' too!

(I'm loving that Lennon tune, too!)

I got hit by a Christmas Tree - Clara Belle West

more clara quotes...

A coupla days ago while I was changing Emmett's diaper Clara made a reference to "that wiggly thing on Emmett's bottom." After I explained to her what it was called and what it did she made up a little song that went something like "penis, penis, penis..." and then told me that Finn (her friend at school) had a penis. I think she likes to watch him go potty at school. In fact, one time when I picked her up, I arrived to find her pantsless, in the bathroom squatting down watching Finn sit on the potty. That school is all about the learnin'. :-)

This morning in the car, Clara was explaining to Emmett that when he gets bigger like her he will get to sit in her chair. And that the chair he was sitting in was her chair when she was little. Then she said to me, "Mama, when Emmett's head gets big, he'll talk." I can't wait.

80s Mixtape

I recently recorded & made into MP3 files an old mixtape of my brother Noel's (from an old loover, perhaps?).

It's got a great late-80s/new waveish set list...check it out!

Claritude

This morning in the midst of the chaos of trying to get us all out the door, Clara wanted me to cheer for her puppy. I said "Hooray, okay Clara now go put your shoes on. Please!" Clara said, "O. kay. Mama, you're making me grumpy." And walked away and put her shoes on. She's the best.

Sober Sailor

Emmett is officially walking!

"L'il Buddy" has been taking steps here and there for a few weeks; even last weekend walking back & forth to me across a store foyer. But it's always been that sterotypical drunken sailor/Frankenstein walk to get to point B before he falls. But last night and today he's been caught wandering from room to room on his own, no provocation, no hands. Before dinner tonight, he even walked out of the office, turning through the hallway, and then strutting proudly into the kitchen.

It's about time, too. That kid is way too heavy to keep carrying.

Santa's little snacker

We've been talking to Clara about Santa. And for some reason she thinks she doesn't want to sit on his lap. She wants to see him...but she wants to sit in a chair next to him. But it's okay for Emmett to sit on his lap. And what does she want to ask Santa to bring her for Christmas? "Cheerios."

Clarademic 2007

So the week before Thanksgiving both kids were home from school sick. The whole. week. Then we got to Ohio to see my family and Clara's croup took a turn for the worse and we ended up going to an urgent care clinic twice in that week. Three medications and a chest x-ray later, we headed home and she was doing better. But that week was rough. Poor Clara had croup with _horrible_ coughing spells, fevers, diarrhea with horrible diaper rash, double ear infections, and a canker sore. All that combined with a 3 hour time change and all 4 of us sleeping in the same room. Oof. And then there was Jacob who was recovering from pink eye and an ear infection. And before we left, Katie started vomiting and running a fever. Ben started running a fever. The week after we got home we heard that Ben & Sarah both had double ear infections. Then we found out my dad had been off work with fevers and horrible coughing, couldn't sleep, etc. and after a week ended up having to go to the doctor. Emmett's spiked a couple of mysterious fevers and had to leave school early. And now tonight I got a call from my Aunt. She didn't sound so good. She started off the voicemail saying how she'd heard about Seattle's bad weather but then quickly transitioned to saying how great it was to see Clara but her croup had definitely been attacking nearly every person she had come in contact with.

Oops.

Sorry everybody!