Chocolate Pie Success!

Sunday I was brave and attempted the chocolate pie baking again! And this time I had great success. So, on thanksgiving I'm going to attempt the chocolate pie backing again just this time I'm going to make Auntie M's graham cracker crust because that is really what was missing. Thanks for all of your encouragement!

In December, my good friend Marcia and I are taking a living social baking class. Clearly just what I needed it. Backing is not easy but honestly the most rewarding. Yum!

Homemade Ice Cream

Do you think scrambled egg flavored ice cream would be good? I don't! I'm trying to make homemade vanilla ice cream but it smells like scrambled eggs. You have to cook milk with 2 eggs and sugar until it is a thin pudding consistency. I stirred my mixture for about 45 minutes and it never turned into a thin pudding consistency it went straight to scrambling my eggs. I strained the mixture but it still smells like scrambled eggs. I'm going to put in the cream and vanilla mixture, cool it and see what happens. Sadly, Jason just bought vanilla ice cream at Trader Joe's and it taste pretty damn good. Why am I doing this?

To be continued...

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Family and Friends!

Although we are not with you at Easter we are thinking about ya all so much.

Marc and Cindy are here visiting us for Easter and our friends Becs and Jake are coming over so we are getting to spend the holiday with family and great friends.

I'm cooking today. Here is le menu:

Porchetta


2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 5 1/2- to 6-pound boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), excess fat trimmed with thin layer left intact
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for brushing
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth


Stir fennel seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until slightly darker in color and fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer seeds to spice mill and cool. Add kosher salt, peppercorns, and dried crushed red pepper. Grind to medium-fine consistency (not powder).


Place pork in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Rub garlic all over pork, then coat with spice mixture. Loosely cover pork with waxed paper. Refrigerate overnight.


Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush large rimmed baking sheet with oil. Place roast, fat side up and coating intact, in center of sheet. Drizzle evenly with 2 tablespoons oil. Roast pork 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. Roast pork until very tender and thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 190°F, about 3 hours 15 minutes longer. Transfer pork to cutting board; reserve baking sheet. Let pork rest 15 to 30 minutes.


Meanwhile, pour all pan juices into 2-cup measuring cup. Spoon off fat that rises to top. Place reserved baking sheet across 2 burners. Pour wine and broth onto baking sheet and bring to boil over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits. Boil until wine mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 4 minutes. Add degreased pan juices and whisk to blend. Pour pan sauce into small bowl (sauce will be thin).


Thinly slice roast. Serve with sauce.


So, the porchetta has a special place in my heart. Not only do I heart pork, when I went to Italy I discovered the delicious goodness of porchetta. I had dinner at a friends house while I was in Rome. We went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and they had samples of porchetta. I fell in love, right then and there. The next day we went to this little sandwich shop and they made me a porchetta sandwich with arugula on a nice crispy fresh piece of bread. It really doesn't get better than that!


We also had:

Acorn Squash


1 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


Turn acorn squash upside down onto a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until it begins to soften, approximately 30 to 45 minutes.


Remove squash from the oven and turn onto a plate so that the flesh is facing upwards. Place butter and brown sugar into the squash, and place remaining squash over the other piece. Place squash in a baking dish (so the squash wont slide around too much) while baking.


Place squash in the 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven and bake another 30 minutes.

Spinach and Orzo Salad
Courtesy of Rebecca "Economists in the Kitchen"


1 (16 ounce) package uncooked orzo pasta
1 (10 ounce) package baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
1/2 pound crumbled feta cheese
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar


Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in spinach, feta, onion, pine nuts, basil and white pepper. Toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Refrigerate and serve cold.


Note: This makes a ton, but the leftovers keep really well.
 

 
Scallop Potatoes: Very Good!
Courtesy of Pam Cooney
 
1 half stick Oleo or butter melted
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup (can also use cream of mushroom)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 medium onion chopped fine
2 lbs. hashbrown shredded potatoes frozen
 
Mix melted butter, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheese and onions together.
Pour over hashbrowns.
Toss until potatoes are well coated.
Put in baking dish (13x9, spray with cooking spray).
Top with breadcrumbs.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
 
These potatoes make the house smell delish and they taste amazing.
 

Finally, the piece de resistance Bec's almond pound cake, strawberry, vanilla pudding, whip cream trifle. It was absolutely delish!!! We also had easter cupcakes which were oh so good!
 
Happy Easter!! We love you!

White Chip Orange Cookies

Possibly the best cookies in all the land. My friend and colleague, Ronnie Campbell, shared her white chip and orange cookie recipe with me. I think it is one of the best cookies to be made and eaten. Since the recipe is not online, I thought I would include it here in a post for all of you to try the next time you feel like making cookies.

I made them today on my last week-day off because I have been planning to make them for about 6 months and just have never gotten to it. If you want to know why I haven't really gotten to it in the last 6 months check out thotlady's most recent blog on cooking and baking.

I'm also going to try to start a new tab at the top of the blog with recipes, especially those that can't be found online. For other great recipes check out the side panel on the right which has links to some of my favorite online recipes...I just added the pork shoulder recipe which is simple to make, it just requires time since the pork shoulder needs to marinate for at least 3 hours and it takes 45 minutes/pound to cook (I'm cooking a 5lb pork shoulder today).

White Chip Orange Cookies

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine, softened 
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 to 3 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 cups (12-ounce package) Nestle Toll House Premier White Morsels

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg and orange peel. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to racks to cool completely. Makes 39 cookies.
 
I used 3 teaspoons of grated orange peel and Ronnie often uses 4 teaspoons so depending on your tastes you can mix it up.
 
One thing that I found funny is that Ronnie said that it makes 39 cookies. Jason and I were saying "how do you get 39 cookies?" It is SO precise and it is not even part of a dozen or an even number. Hilariously, when I made them, it made 39 cookies!! Without any thought, I made 4 sheets of 9 with 3 extra! When I told Jason we just started cracking up. Why I ever doubted Ronnie on numbers is beyond me because Ronnie is a retired auditor who has spent several years in the Office of the Inspector General for a number of organizations! What was I thinking????
 
Enjoy!!

New Beginnings

I have a new job. I started on Monday but I am taking the rest of the week off so I that I can reboot. On Monday, I spent most of the day filling out paperwork and taking a tour of my new building. I feel like a kid, getting to know my new building, figuring out where the bathroom is, where the cafeteria is and trying not to get lost.

It's fun and exciting and seems silly. I'm happy.

I miss my friends at my previous job but I know we will always be friends. Besides, I'm only 8 blocks away or so, on the other side of the national mall.

My great friends and colleagues took me out to lunch to celebrate new beginnings. I'm so fortunate to have such kind, fun, good humored, and thoughtful friends. We had a delicious meal at Oyamel and laughed and talked. It couldn't have been better.

(Doris, Amy, Becs, Sarah and Joan)

I'm hoping with my new job, that I will have more time to write on the blog and start again to share our goings on.

Weekend Entertainment

Over the past couple of weekends we really have tried hard to do nothing and we have succeeded! Work is so incredibly draining that I have absolutely zero energy by the end of it. Thank goodness the rest of the family is on board.

On Friday, I got my haircut. I had rescheduled the appointment twice. Jason had a horrible migraine. I took the metro to Grosvnor and then a cab to the White Flint mall. Doris picked up Aidan and Leo and they met me at the mall and we had dinner at Bertucci's. Apparently when Doris picked up the boys Jason barely even acknowledged that they were leaving. While Doris and Aidan are fumbling around trying to figure out the car seat thing Jason was throwing up he was so nauseous. Poor Jason. Meanwhile Doris is cracking up outside putting the boys in the car. We tried to stay out as long as possible so Jason would have some peace. Aidan, Leo and I slept downstairs so we didn't bother Jason.

On Saturday, Jason felt much, much better. Even still we did absolutely nothing during the day except I went to the grocery store with the boys quickly to pick up the needed ingredients to make dip. For Bec's birthday she was throwing a dip party. It was so fun. Bec's and Jake always throw the best parties. The party started at 5pm but at 2 o'clock Leo said, "I'm ready to go to Becs and Jake's house now." Becs made a delicious Moroccan carrot dip and a spinach dip, Doris made her 6 layer dip, Sarah made delicious spring rolls with a peanut dip sauce, there was edamame hummus, warm bean dip, shrimp dip and to top it all off there was a beautiful and super yummy big bowl of peach, strawberry, vanilla, coconut ice cream. Leo especially loves their house because of "Reggie" the cat. Leo loves Reggie. He wants to constantly watch him and follow him around. And I love Liam and wanted to constantly watch him and follow him around. Liam is Sarah and Kevin's adorable 1 year old son and he is always so super happy, curious and loves everyone. I taught him about light switches and "on" and "off". He's fantastic.

Today Sunday we all woke up after 9am. I got up at 6am with Aidan and Leo sleeping in our bed. Leo was close to me with his head near my feet and his feet near my head. I was worried about kneeing him in the face so I went downstairs to sleep some more and woke up at 9:30! I couldn't believe it. I have not slept in until 9:30 since I had kids. It felt glorious. Right now, we are all watching iCarly, I'm making dinner and we are relaxing.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

New Recipe and Wednesday

Last night we got about 5 inches of snow. I was hoping for a day off of work at the very least a 2 hour delay. I brought work home and my computer fully expecting to be out a day. Completely preparing myself for not being able to make it in.

As I am laying in bed this morning at about 6:30am, just starting to wake up, I am thinking "oh please, oh please, oh please let us be closed today". Jason was already awake and I know he already knows but I am afraid to ask him for fear of being disappointed but I have to know. Imagine my disappointment when I hear we are on "unscheduled leave" which basically means nothing -- well okay something -- you can ask for the day off without advance notice. What a royal bummer. I ended up staying home anyway working for part of morning and then taking the rest of the afternoon off because I had a doctor's appointment around lunch time.

Aidan had the day off and he was thrilled. After my doctor's appointment, Jason went to the movies. He went to see "Up in the Air". He won't tell anyone about it and just says, "you'll have to wait to read the blog". I'm still waiting for the review of "Youth in Revolt" and "Avatar". By next Oscars we should get a good review of the movies for this years Oscars :)

I tried a new recipe tonight. It was really flavorful and hearty and quite good. I give it 4 out 5 stars. Here is the recipe:

Smothered Beans with Leeks and Collard Greens

Ingredients
1 cup dried Great Northern beans
1/4 cup dried pinto beans
1 quart water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced leeks (about 2 large)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, divided
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pound collard greens, chopped
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped

Preparation
Sort and wash beans; place in a large saucepan. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; cover and let stand 8 hours. Drain beans. Add 1 quart water and return beans to pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Cool. Drain beans in a colander over a bowl, reserving cooking liquid; set beans aside. Add enough water to cooking liquid to equal 3 cups; set aside.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leeks, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until leeks are tender. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer leek mixture to a large bowl; add greens. Toss well to combine.
Place half of greens mixture in bottom of Dutch oven; top with beans. Spread remaining greens mixture over beans. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Pour reserved liquid over greens. Cover and simmer over medium heat 1 hour or until beans are tender, stirring once. Uncover and stir in tomatoes; simmer 10 minutes.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 153 (24% from fat)
Fat: 4.1g (sat 0.6g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.6g)
Protein: 7.5g
Carbohydrate: 24g
Fiber: 7.8g
Cholesterol: 0.0mg
Iron: 2.3mg
Sodium: 382mg
Calcium: 158mg

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2002

I used can beans because I can never prepare well enough in advance. Since I didn't have the bean liquid I just used leftover low-sodium chicken broth and water which worked great. I also used diced tomatoes and not whole. Who needs the extra step of cutting? It's good. I had a lot of leftovers but it will be good for lunch. The kids were not fans but we really liked it.

We may get up to 24 inches of snow this weekend. We're a bit concerned because cousin Jesse is coming to visit us on Friday. Aidan can not wait for him to arrive. He keeps asking when he is coming. It is very cute.

(Extended) Mother's Night Out

Thanks to Allan's generosity, Marcia and I enjoyed an extended Mother's night out. It was only Marcia's second time overnight without the children and it was my second or third night away not on business. On Saturday, we road the (Acela!) train to Philly arriving at about 2:00pm. We headed straight to hotel Sofitel (Bonjour!) where we were staying and while we were waiting to check in and waiting for our room to get ready we spent about 40 minutes with the hotel Concierge planning our trip. He arranged our dinner reservations, evening entertainment and spa treatment for the next day. He was the best!

After we checked into our room and tested our our super comfy beds, we did a little window shopping. We had a wonderful dinner at Sampan where we tried many different (not so small) modern Asian dishes. You are going to drop dead on the floor when you read this but one of my favorite dishes was the brussel sprouts. I know! I also loved the Papaya and Kobe beef salad and the lobster goyza.

After dinner we went to a play called Becky Shaw which was a 5 person cast show. The playwright is Gina Gionfriddo who is a producer/writer of Law and Order. It is a funny and serious story about a date set up and the date is a little wacky and sets in motion a number of events that the family then has to deal with. I have to admit that when I first sat down and the show started, I was expecting them to break into song. Musicals are the only shows I have seen recently. Also there was quite a bit of swearing in the show. I kept thinking "what's with the swearing?" and Marcia and I would keep looking at each other thinking "what with all the swearing?". I think it's because we both have this heightened hearing for swear words...whenever their is swearing on the TV or radio we change it so the kids don't hear and I haven't been to an adult play/musical for a really long time. After dinner and the play we went back to our hotel and had fresh, homemade ginger ale and an apple tartin with cinnamon ice cream in our hotel bar. Yum!

The next day we went to the Spa, Marcia got her hair cut and I got a facial. After that we did some more shopping and then had a fantastic late lunch at the Continental restaurant. It was delicious and probably the best meal we had. I had the veggie burger and french fries and Marcia had a corn, pablano and cheese omelet. For dessert we shared the "liquid" chocolate french toast which was totally to die for. After lunch we headed back to the train station for our 4:12 departure and we got into DC at about 5:45pm. It was a really nice and relaxing trip. We had such a great time.

While I was in Philly the boys went to see Princess and the Frog and ate dinner at McDonald's. They totally love it when I go away because they get to eat at McDonald's. The next day they were home most of the day because we were getting Direct TV installed. Sadly, our run of free cable has ended. Over the last year, the channels kept dropping and dropping. It was a good five year run!

Today we went over to Becs and Jake's house for a wonderful lunch of butternut squash lasagna, salad, baked ziti, roasted cauliflower and garlic bread and for dessert Bec's made the most delicious pumpkin chocolate bundt cake. It was such a wonderful meal and amazing company. Doris was with us and Kevin, Sarah and beautiful Liam. He (Liam of course) was so amazingly good the entire day we were with him. He sat quietly and content in his chair while we ate and he was happy to let us all play with him and hold him. He's a fantastic baby. (I'm going to try to add the cake and lasagna recipes on the sidebar of our blog too!)

Aidan and Leo love Becs and Jake's house because they are super nice, let the boys play Wii and because they have two cats, Reggie and Dewey. The loved watching Reggie jump in and out of the cat window/door, they also loved playing with him and his toys!, and they thought it was super cool that Reggie likes to play with (real) mice. They were mesmerized by the (real) mouse split in half in the front yard. Gruesome, I know, but boys like that kind of stuff. Leo was funny and got some toilet paper to pick up a dead bug for Becs and he used toilet paper to get a stink bug for her too! Bugs and mice how cool!

Christmas Day

Our Christmas Tree

We had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas Eve we had fondue and lots of white wine. We opened presents from family that we would usually spend Christmas Eve with, the Fosters and Ritualos. The boys had a great time. Later in the evening, we set cookies out for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. In the morning, they were gone and stockings were filled and Santa left presents for Aidan and Leo. They must have been very, very good. On Christmas morning the boys woke up around 7:30am--a respectable hour--and ran downstairs to see if Santa had come. He did!!! Leo got a RC Jumbo Jet and Aidan got a Nintendo DS. After Aidan opened his DS game Oma asked, "Did you ask Santa for any games?" Aidan's face went long and serious and he sadly said, "no." No matter because his family came through for him and Grandpa Russ and Grandma Joan and Pa and Crow got him some new games so he was set.

Aidan and Jason playing the DS

Leo was very excited opening presents. Every time he opened a toy he had to take time to open it and play with it. The first toy he opened was Mater the Greater from Grandpa Russ and Grandma Joan--which required lots of assembly--but he loves playing with it. Uncle Marc kept teasing the boys that they were going to get underwear and socks. When Aidan finally opened the underwear that crow got him he couldn't believe it and he yelled "Uncle Marc, look I got underwear!" When Leo opened his underwear (Thomas the Train) he threw them down and said he hated underwear! Little do they know that getting underwear from Pa and Crow is a tradition!

Aunt Cindy looking a her new cookbook and Bramwell sniffing around for something exciting.

After we opened presents from the Holmas we took a bit of a break to have Cinnamon Rolls and pumpkin bread. We make Cinnamon Rolls because Grandma Joan always made Cinnamon Rolls for us in the morning. Oma loved the house sign mom found at the Puyallup fair that says, "Oma and Opa's house"-they couldn't believe you found it and look forward to putting it up on their house. I got a new camera which was exciting and these pictures are from my new camera. I still have a lot to learn about using it. On a side note, the users manual comes on a CD and not in paper which means I am much less likely to learn how to use it! The camera was one of the last presents I opened which is why I have so few pictures of opening presents! I also got an Edward and Bella "New Moon" fuzzy blanket. Good one mom! Aidan hates it!

Christmas Dinner at the grown up table: Jandan (our neighbor), A. Cindy, U. Marc, Oma, Jason and Opa

We had a wonderful dinner of spiral honey ham, Aunt Pam's yummy potatoes, Unyun's Green Bean surprise and salad. We had good music, good food, and good company. We had a lovely Christmas. I missed so much the rest of our family. The boys really, really loved opening your presents and I wish you ALL could be here to watch them open them and see the excitement. We are so lucky to have such a large and loving family. Thank you so much!! We are forever grateful for your love and kindness.

Christmas dinner at the kids tables!

Our weekend

The highlight of our weekend was a visit from our friends Rachel and Curtis. On Sunday, Rachel and Curtis came over for dinner (Curtis' daddy is busy working on a huge home rebuild and works tirelessly every weekend). Curtis was born February 4 of this year and is almost 8 months old. It was really fun to have a baby in the house. The boys were really excited for him to come over and thought about what toys he might like to play with and what toys had small pieces. Curtis entartained us all.

Jason BBQ delicious hamburgers and hot dogs and I made a fruit salad and a carrot salad (the recipe for the carrot salad is on the lower left of the blog). Leo as usual did not eat much except a hot dog bun and half a banana and while Aidan is generally a good eater he did not eat much tonight either.

Curtis was happy eating his own carrots and rice cereal. He is pretty new to the world of food so we had a lot of fun watching him eat and remembering how fun it was to have a baby around. He made all kids of funny faces, noises and had a messy face!

Curtis tried for the very first time, mashed banana. As you can see from the picture above he was not particularly thrilled with the banana. He made a funny face and spit it back out off of his tongue. We all got a great kick out of that. Aidan thought he was pretty funny!

When they first arrived we were downstairs playing and Leo went into the back bedroom and came out naked. He said he likes to be naked. We were all surprised and laughed! Well to be honest I'm not so surprised! Rachel took a bunch of baby clothes (18 months - 24 months) which I was so happy about! I'm so glad that Curtis can use them. P.S. Curtis is wearing 18 month clothes now! He is SO cute!

The rest of the weekend was not fun at all. We (read: I, Amy) decided it would be a good idea to clean out the storage area in the basement. We took everything out, cleaned up the area, filled a whole "big red car" full of stuff to go to the dump and bought some storage shelves from Ikea. Unfortunately, Ikea did not have all of the pieces we needed so we have to wait a week. We ended up having to put everything back in and we will have to take it all out again next week when the rest of the pieces come in. Ugh! It was exhausting but its always nice to get rid of stuff and organize a bit. The boys also had fun taking stuff out of the storage space at least for a couple of minutes anyway. We also started to clean and get ready for Patrick's visit this coming up weekend! We can't wait.

Ce Weekend

On Sunday we went to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair. We decided to go because I guess I was feeling a little bit nostalgic for the Puyallup Fair. I have not been to the Puyallup Fair in probably six or seven years, maybe more. I remember as a child going every year. I think we may even got to take the day off school. I remember the rides of course - the roller coaster, the zipper, the black octopus, the teacups, the swings - playing the games and trying to win the most gigantic stuffed animals. I also remember the craft and collectible houses, the displays of fruits and vegetables, the gigantic vegetables, the fishing area and one of my all time favorites...the "as seen on tv" area with the demonstrations (cookware, cooking tools, ring cleaner, etc.)...this is where my early love for QVC came from! I remember the food, the YoungLife BBQ, elephant ears, the earthquake burgers (I never had one but amazing nonetheless) and of course the piece de resistance the fair scone. The best part about the food was going with Unyun because he always wanted to share everything so that we could try everything! I also remember the chameleons and gold fish. Remember, Heather, we would get the chameleons (they really were not chameleons but some kind of lizard) and let them run loose around the house in Mom's plant display. We always wondered where they went when they disappeared until Unyun told us they went in the vents and died or the cats got them! Why did we get them every single year?

So those are my memories of the Puyallup Fair and I thought we would start some memories of our own and the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair. It pales in comparison to the Puyallup but despite the excruciating heat we had fun. We had BBQ (a 5.5 on a scale of 1:10), we saw animals, there was a small "as seen on TV" exhibit, we enjoyed some rides and we had some laughs. It was not nearly as good as the Puyallup Fair but we had some memorable moments.

First, we unexpectedly saw a baby calf that was born less than two hours earlier. We saw signs for the milking area which I thought would be fun but next to the milking area was the birthing center. I walked in first and saw the rear of the cow with the tail hanging down and the placenta. It was disgusting so I told everyone to go around to the other side where the front of the head was. We went around and we saw the front of the mama cow and the calf. The calf was really cute and the boys sat on a bleachers to see the baby cow. The mama cow turned around and Aidan said "yew...what is that?" So I explained that when babies grow inside their mommies tummies they grow in a sac. He said, "that's disgusting. let's get out of here." We all agreed. The joys and lessons of life on the farm. Later, after we left, he asked "did you have that sac when I were born." Great...the Montgomery County Fair leads to lessons on birthing and babies!

Another memorable (G-rated) moment was when we watched the pig races. We got there 15 minutes early because the pig races draw a big crowd! There was a pig caller from North Carolina MCing and calling the pig races he was really funny and very southern. For each of the races he would select someone from the crowd to cheer for one of the four pigs/animals that raced and if your pig won you would get a prize. For the first race he picked Leo to cheer on the brown tagged pig and said "that little boy has never seen a pig in his whole life". That was probably true! We laughed and we cheered on the brown pig. He came third! Then they raced miniature goats, ducks (of all things) and teeny little pigs. For the last race, they wanted women to represent because they were going to crown the queen of the pigs! Leo was sitting on my lap was trying to get me to raise my hand. I didn't want to be selected because winner had to kiss a pig. He stilled tried to push my hand up! The pig races were really fun and probably best part of the Fair.

We also played the squirt gun game. Mommy won! And Aidan and I rode on the Ferris Wheel. We were all going to go on together but Leo was not going to have any part of it. I thought that was funny because Leo is usually the one that wants to go on the rides. He had already been in the moon bounce and on a train ride but the Ferris Wheel he would have no part of. Aidan totally stepped up to the plate and rode on the Ferris Wheel with his mom and he had a great time. He wasn't afraid at all. We looked at the huge park from way up high, spotted a monster truck, tried to find our car in the parking lot, and we looked at all the rides to see if me or Pa and Auntie Heather had ever gone on them.

It was a hot, hot day but we had a lot of fun! Afterwards, Leo took a nap, Aidan and I planted a few end of season flowers to spice up our yard and we washed the car and played in the sprinkler. We were exhausted but we had a great, great time.

I had a lot of work to do today. I lost a little sleep over the weekend thinking about how I would get the work done on Monday. I decided to go in at 8am, cancelled a 10am meeting and planned to work on something that was well over due from 8am to 10am. At 11:18am I finally finished the document I was working on and I went to the bathroom. When I got back to my desk I had some crazy error on my computer screen and all of a sudden it said "Windows is shutting down". I didn't save my work (I don't need a lesson on saving) and I started to freak out! Doris the kind friend that she is came over to console me, called our computer center, and they were able to find the recovered version of the document. I thought about what I would do if I couldn't get the document back: go home, go crazy in my cubicle. I seriously wasn't sure what might happen. It's probably not appropriate but I wanted to kiss the computer guy. I was SO relieved. I felt like I couldn't do anything else for the rest of the day.

Good night.

Seattle Trip: Seattle Mariners and Safeco Field

View of downtown Seattle and Safeco Field

Just a quick current time update: it's 8:25pm and the boys are in the bathtub. I am sitting outside the bathroom trying to get in a quick blog post. It has been incredibly hard getting back to east coast time and going to and funtioning at work. Aidan and Leo are still sleeping in until after 8am (unheard of!) and Jason and I are still exhausted at 6am. I am finding it almost impossible to get to work and it has proved equally impossible to want to be at work, do any work or function at work. I guess I still have vacation and Seattle on the mind. When will it end?

Now on to the vacation memories...

Did I mention that I spent the first week of vacation sick? The first day that I actually felt better was Sunday when we met Heidi, Patrick and Laurel for a fun day. We went over to their house and had fantastic breakast/brunch full on with a Patrick-inspired and delicious brunch dish, french toast, fruit and coffee. After brunch we all packed up (seven of us) in the gi-normous van and headed down to Safeco Field for the Mariners vs. Indians game. Jason and I (or the boys) had never been to the stadium so it was a particular treat for us. I was a bit worried about going to the game because did I mention it was horrendously hot in Seattle the ENTIRE time we were there. I was worried about the kids sitting in the hot sun all afternoon and getting hot and cranky but it did not happen.

Ichiro Jersey Day at Safeco Field

Heidi and Patrick worked some magic and got us these fantastic seats on the 300 level, above first base and in the shade. Awesome! The tickets could not have been better. We felt like we were part of the game but it was not hot at all and we actually had a fantastic breeze. At one point Aidan actually said he was "cold". I don't think he ever said that again during our entire trip. We walked around the stadium, had some snacks (the food at stadiums these days is crazy) and enjoyed a day at the Park. We had such a great time! Aidan, however, descretely (not!) pouted the whole game (day?) because he missed his cousin and could not bear to be away from him for more than a couple hours. He could have been at Disneyland and he would have pouted because he was not with Ethan.

After we enjoyed the game (the Mariners majorly lost) we went back to H & P's house and Laurel and Leo played outside in the little pool and with the little sprinkler and bubbles. Leo loved spraying the hose, any where and every where and Laurel loved dumping the bubbles on the deck and cleaning the deck.

Laurel cleaning the deck with spilled bubbles

We ended our great day by having dinner and milk shakes at Dicks Drive-In. It was yummy! I had not been to Dick's since probably college over 15 years ago. We had Dick's burgers, fries and ice cream/milk shakes. We at in the gi-normous van again and the kids got to play around in the back. It felt like the old days when we used to travel around in the "ship of fools"--good times.

Leo playing with hose

Fourth of July Fun

Auntie Thotlady and Bramwell hanging out on the porch

At Uncle Bogey's and Auntie Thotlady's house this weekend. We played a really fun outdoor game called Ladder Ball. Everyone had fun playing. You throw these two balls connected by a rope and hope they land on the "ladder". The middle rung is worth three points, the top rung 2 and the bottom rung 1 point and you play until someone gets 21. Leo and Aidan played too. We had two matches boys against the girls and do you even need to guess who won? THE GIRLS of course!

Uncle Bogey and Aidan playing Ladder Ball

Aidan taking a turn at Ladder Ball

Aidan doing his celebratory dance!

We had a lot of fun on the fourth. In the morning we went down for a yummy breakfast at the hotel. Jason, Aidan and Leo went to the pool and I went to the gym and walked on the treadmill. Uncle Bogey came over and went swimming with the boys. They had a lot of fun. After swimming we showered and went over to Uncle B and Auntie T for a BBQ. We had lots of great snacks and burgers, hot dogs and beer--just like the fourth of July should be.

Arlene and Leo hanging out on the porch

Uncle Bogey teaching Aidan how to BBQ

Leo and Mommy chillin' in the backyard

Around 4:30 pm we drove back up to DC. The traffic was great, essentially non-existent and we buzzed home. Both of the boys took a long nap. We actually stopped at the outlet mall and bought Aidan two pairs of shoes - one for now and one we will get out when he starts school. We find the outlet mall the best place to buys kids shoes, either the Nordstrom rack or the stride rite outlet. Otherwise shoes are $40+ which seems insane to pay for a 6 year old. On the remaining ride home the boys were watching our ipods and were totally entertained.

Leo watching Cars on the ipod

Aidan watching Star Wars: Clone Wars on the ipod

Jason driving the long rode home - he really isn't picking his nose (or is he?)

Today we are going to Jake and Bec's house for another BBQ. Bec's always has yummy snacks and Jake always sets up fun games for us all to play. We are bringing a fruit salad, broccoli salad and beer and oh yeah, our Wii controllers!

Some pictures from my hotel in Accra

I took a few pictures around my hotel in Accra because I did not go outside the hotel. The meetings were long, I'm tired and I didn't want to go out by myself especially since it is my first time here. We hung out in the bar until about 9pm tonight. We had dinner (cheeseburger and Heineken) and a drink and talked to a few people from the conference. People have been pretty nice.

So, these chairs are outside the evaluators on each of the floors. I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE them. They really are amazing pieces of art. I would love for my cousin Jesse to make me one just like it. He could make it over a long period of time (like 10 years) and I could pay installments. :)

Outside my window is a construction site. At this construction site there are no machines and everything is done (very slowly) by hand. This man is carrying, on his head, a load of rubble from inside the building and then dumping it into this pile. There is another construction site in my view and they have a few machines. I watched these men work in the morning and everything was happening so incredibly slow. It is dry, hot, dusty and the work site does not seem that safe. I wonder how long they have been at it to get to this? It's incredible.

View from my room to the left.

Center view from my window. That newly constructed building is a bank but I really have not seen too many cars parked in the parking lot.

View from my room to the right. Another construction site. This one seems to be moving faster because at least they have a few machines. I did not see any men carrying loads on their heads in this site. I think this will be a new Hilton hotel. I am staying at a hotel 5 minutes from the airport. Apparently the area around the airport is really where the growth is and you can see it so well.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I'm so happy to go home. I will leave at 7:45 am to go to the airport. My flight leaves at 10:00am. I will travel for 11 hours and 20 minutes to JFK. After that my flight is less than 2 hours I think. I'm supposed to get home just after 9pm I think.

Dove è la mamma?

Mamma at the Foro Romano

You guessed it! I am in Rome. I have to say that when I had to get up at 4am yesterday to make my 6am flight Rome (via Zurich), I was not that thrilled about coming here. The early flight, and having to do everything that goes along with travelling such as changeing money, getting a taxi (and making sure I was not over charged), waiting for an hour for my suitcase to arrive, etc., etc. did not inspire my excitement for Rome. However, and this a big however, when we got to the center of the city I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the city. I was so happy to be here.

Colosseo

I think it may just be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I went straight from the airport to the ILO offices in Rome. I'm here working with Furio and the UCW project. We pretty much got right down to work except first things first which is to have a coffee. We worked until a little about 6:30pm and then Gabriella took me for a nice walk around the city to the Colosseo or Colosseum, Roman Forum, and then we had bierra and pizza at a nice restaurant near the Colosseum. The food, drink and the company could not have been better.

View from the ILO office in Rome

I am staying at Furio's family's extra apartment. Actually Furio's wife, Suzana is an artist and it is her artist studio. It is near the University of Rome, in the area called San Lorenzo and it is great. I'm enjoying having my own place and space. This morning I left the apartment and had a cappucino and croissant at the counter and left on my own exploration to find the ILO offices. I had a great map and did not have any trouble getting there. The walk was about 45 minutes but it was great to explore a bit and look at all the businesses that were starting to open and all of the people standing at the coffee bar taking a coffee.

Santa Maria Maggiore

On my walk this morning into the office, I passed through the area of the Santa Maria Maggiore which is a very big old church. I got into the office at 9:30 and everyone was already hard at work. My commute in to the office this morning sure beat the redline metro.

Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

Aidan and Leo, do you recognize any of these places from our trip to Rome in 2007? We should really plan to make a trip back soon!

I hope you are having fun with Daddy and Crow. I missing you so much.

Leo: Love you ALL DAY!

Aidan: I love you to the farthest star in the sky and back!