Valentines Day

My sweetie and I had an awesome Valentines Day celebration. We actually celebrated a couple days early. Since babysitters are pretty hard to come by for us, we take advantage of the time when our kids are at school. Normally we are at work during the day while our kids are at school, but once in a while we coordinate vacation days and have a kid free date day.

It's so nice to have a leisurely day together. On this particular day we REALLY treated ourselves. We headed over to the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort and Spa in North Bonneville, Oregon. It's located in the Columbia River Gorge and the drive out was spectacular. The Gorge really is a MUST SEE. It will take your breath away. The Columbia River Gorge provides views of the Columbia River, rugged mountains of the cascade range, and gushing waterfalls.

Why did we head over to the Resort and Spa? To get pampered with spa treatments of course! You see my husband loves the pampering just as much as I do. We opted for the couples soak, wrap, and massage package. The couples rooms are nicely appointed with a large two person soaking tub, fireplace, large picture window with a view, and a massage area. First you soak together in the mineral bath while enjoying the fireplace and view. Next you are wrapped in warm linens on a heated cot. Lastly you finish off your treatment with an 80 minute massage. If you're up for more relaxation, you can head over to their hot springs tub and pool to soak again.

By the time we were finished with our spa treatments (2 1/2 hours later) we were STARVING! So, we headed over to a favorite restaurant and devoured our seafood and lobster lunch. How do you end such a great day? With a long nap before heading over to pick up the kiddos from school.

I hope you had a great Valentines Day to reconnect with your loved ones as well.

My Baby Boy is Four Today!

Today my baby boy turns four. Happy birthday to you, big guy. Here is how he chose to celebrate: He invited his preschool classmates and cousins to a swimming party, he had family over for dinner with a special menu of his choosing, and he played with all of his new legos for hours and hours and hours. That pretty much sums up a perfect day for him.

What does a four year old choose for his birthday menu? If you're Brady you choose sausage (which apparently looks like a giant weanie), macaroni and cheese, broccoli, and pink lemonade. For dessert we had chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (from a can).

He loved his new Spiderman bike. He said that it was "big and strong". He's so funny!

Happy birthday, my love.

Pumpkin Patch

We did our annual pumpkin patch visit this weekend. We went to Hoffman Farms near Canby and were very impressed. We've gone to the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island before, but it took forever to get off of the island and we didn't like that. We've also gone to Bauman's Farms near Woodburn, but they charge a $10 admission per person, and that seems pretty steep for a pumpkin patch visit.

Hoffman Farms had everything we wanted and they did not disappoint. Brady's wish list item was a train ride. While they don't actually have a train, they have a tractor decorated to look like a train which pulls you around their acreage. Madeline's wish list item was animals. They had all kinds of animals from domestic to exotic. It was my first time ever seeing a live camel. They also had a tiger, lion, porcupine, alligator, donkeys, cows, horses, emus, alpacas, etc. There were several inflatable slides and bouncy houses for the kids to run off their energy. If you're in the Portland area, I would encourage you to check it out. You can purchase each activity separately or you can buy a $12 wristband for each kid. We definitely thought that the wristband was worth it as it allowed our kids to do the inflatables and "train ride" as frequently as they wished.

I also got some pumpkins to cook up and freeze. I'm looking forward to lots of yummy pumpkin treats and of course the roasted seeds. If anybody has a good recipe for pumpkin seeds, please let me know.

Happy Birthday Baby Blue

My big hearted daughter has taken it upon herself to make sure that every pet in our family has a birthday celebration . Earlier this year we had Tigger's one year birthday (Tigger is our cat) complete with cake, gifts, singing, etc.

Today Madeline and her grandmother arranged a very nice birthday party for Mollie's puppy, Baby Blue. Madeline worked very hard to paint a ceramic dog dish for Blue, which you can see in the picture below. The project took her over two hours to complete. It was such a thoughtful gift. She also made a very elaborate birthday card to go with the gift.

We had a nice dinner, followed by the presentation of gifts and cake, and then it was play time in the yard. I think that Blue had a good birthday.

Madeline and Brady Update

Madeline has now been in first grade for about a month and is loving it. I received an invitation to attend her school's assembly since she was to receive an award. She was the first student of the year in her class to do so. I was so proud of her. I'm such a sap - I totally cried watching her. I just cannot believe how grown up she is. When did that happen?


Anyway, the assembly was very cute. The award winners from each class were announced and then got to walk the red carpet. They were also seated in a special VIP section for the rest of the program. Here she is walking the red carpet, with her award, and also with her school's vice principal and counselor.

My little Brady has now been in preschool at the Sunshine School for three months. He is doing so well there! I cannot believe how much he has changed in such a short amount of time. Tonight they held an open house where you could meet the teachers, visit classrooms, see friends, etc. He was so proud to show us around. Of course our tour was fast since Brady doesn't believe in walking. Here are a couple of pictures of him showing us how he plays, with his teacher Mrs. Jaimie, and with his bff Tabor.

We had a free weekend!!

Wow, the weekend went fast. I was so happy to see this weekend arrive. It was the first one in quite a while where we had NO tournaments, birthday parties, other parties, practices, etc. It was all ours to do with as we wished. In usual Mandy fashion, I had a whole list of things I wanted to accomplish. I checked off about half of the items. The other half will have to wait for another time.

I had a really fun time with the kids on Saturday at the movies. This gave Barrett some peace and quiet in which to watch his football game. Madeline's school offers a package of 10 movie tickets for $7 for kids. The adults are admitted free when they accompany a child. The movies are second runs and the theater is an older one, but the kids don't care. I also like these kinds of kid fests because I feel less self conscious when Brady has an outburst or twenty during the movie. He was really into it and would yell things like "Oh no!" or "Why did they do that?" We saw Up and all really enjoyed it. This is by far and away the best cartoon movie I've seen yet and the kids wholeheartedly agreed.

We also did another one of our family's most favorite frugal weekend activities. We pack some treats and park near the airport runways to watch planes landing. I open the sunroof and the kids stand on the front seats, stick their heads out, and watch to their heart's content. This gives Barrett and I snuggle time in the backseat. :) If you live in the Portland area and haven't done this with your kids, I highly recommend it. Park either on Marine drive right by the runway or over near Cascade Station (Ikea). We feel like we see more planes on the Cascade Station side of the airport. Bring something to keep them occupied between planes since it can be a few minutes between.

Since Halloween is coming up soon, I've begun to think about costumes. Brady's is easy as he will be wearing the Batman costume that he refused to wear last year. He was too afraid of his costume to put it on. This year he cannot wait to wear it. Madeline has a few ideas for hers. She wanted to be a Christmas present or a cell phone. Both of which would be pretty easy to do. I'm thinking...get a box, cut arm and head holes and decorate appropriately. I'm sure we'll have fun putting it together. I'll post pictures of the in progress and final costume once we get to that stage.

If you need some great ideas for easy and cheap costumes, you MUST check out http://www.familyfun.com/ ! I love this website and magazine. There are so many great ideas here.

Rest In Peace

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Dennis' passing. Dennis was my father in law. He fought a long hard battle with cancer and did so very bravely. His situation was difficult, but he marched through it with great dignity. He was a husband to his wife Mollie of over 30 years, father to Barrett, and grandfather to Madeline and Brady.

Dennis was a master at the art of gab. He could talk your ear off whether he knew you or not. For the last couple of years we missed his voice, but this past year we truly missed his presence.

Make Ahead Burrito Wraps

Tonight was soccer night - again. I love watching my daughter play soccer and I love watching my husband coach, but it totally messes with my schedule. When you get off of work at 5, have to be on the soccer field at 6, get home at 7:30 and want to have the kids in bed by 8 there isn't much time for things like dinner and breathing.

I've resorted to fast dinners that we can eat either on the go or when we get a spare moment. I stumbled upon a new stand by that totally fits the bill - make ahead burrito wraps. Of course I got the recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/. Thanks for turning me on to that website, Cara, it's kept my family well fed.

The recipe makes a large batch of 20 burritos. I wrap them individually in saran wrap and then in a ziploc baggie. They work well for a quick healthy lunch or dinner. My kids even like them, which is hard to come by.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups uncooked brown rice
4 cups water
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans
1 (15.5 ounce) cans pinto beans
1 (10 ounce) can whole kernel corn
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

1 chopped onion

1 chopped green pepper
20 (10 inch) flour tortillas
1 pound shredded pepperjack cheese

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

DIRECTIONS
Combine rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, and cool.
Place black beans and pinto beans into a colander or strainer, and rinse.

Saute onion, green pepper and corn in 1 tbsp olive oil. Add chili powder and cumin to pan. When soft, remove from heat and cool. Add diced tomatoes with green chilies to the veggie mixture and toss to mix. Transfer to a large bowl, and mix in rice and cheese.
Divide the mixture evenly among the tortillas, and roll up. Wrap individually in plastic wrap, place into a large freezer bag, and freeze. Reheat as needed in the microwave for lunch or snacks. I find that 1 1/2 minutes works great for defrosted burritos.

B & B Saturday

Last Saturday we had a blast doing our B&B routine. B&B in our house is beauty and baking.

For the beauty portion of the evenings events we did a clay face mask. The only one who really needs the benefit of the mask is me, but the little ones really get a kick out of it. Brady proudly joined the beauty brigade complete with headband and all.

For the baking portion of the evenings events we decided to try something different from the usual sweets. We made bavarian pretzels. I found the recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/. Here it is:

INGREDIENTS
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping


DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.