Making prunes

Hooray - our new convection oven has a drying function. Grandpa Crow brought over 5 gallons of plums so we've been making prunes all week.

Speaking of prunes - you played so long in the bath yesterday that you turned into one.

Texas caviar

My Uncle Russell is a great cook and Aunt Linda knows how to please a crowd what with all the bunco nights, baby showers and gatherings at her place. They brought this dip to a family party and it's awesome. I've been making it a lot lately with all of our ripe tomatoes. I really need to get more recipes from them. 

Roasted Corn Salsa (aka Texas Caviar)
1 16 oz bag frozen corn
6-8 roma tomatoes, diced
1 small onion diced
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed
1 clove garlic, minced
3 avocados, diced
Juice of 3 limes
1/4 to 1/2 C fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 Tb red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Thaw corn on cookie sheet and broil until it begins to brown (or buy pre-roasted corn at Trader Joe's). Saute onions unless you like them raw. Mix all the ingredients with corn and let the flavors blend several hours. Serve with tortilla chips.

Serves 12 or so. Great for a potluck and keeps pretty well in the fridge for a couple of days.

Monster princess party

We had a tiny peak into our parental future at Rose's birthday party this weekend. She celebrated her 4th birthday with balloons, bubbles, cupcakes, a puppet show and about 8 little friends. Her chosen theme was "Princess Monster Party" (much different from a monstrous princess party) so most of the kids wore costumes. It was a little crazy but really fun. Happy birthday Rose!

Race for the cure

I joined more than 20,000 people in the Komen 5k walk this year. It was the perfect opportunity for you to wear this lovely onsie from Tarea. 

Ink Jet T-shirt Transfers

I made some gifts for friends this week with ink jet fabric transfers. It was easy with new sewing required.

Step 1 - make the images on the computer.
Kathy is an artist so I took artwork from her web site and overlayed it with text. For Ber's kids, I made clothing labels with clipart.

Step 2 - print and iron on using the transfer instructions.

I put Kathy's onto blank onsies. For Ber, I put a sample of each onto a piece of flannel and included the instructions for using the labels herself.

Our rootin' tootin' cowgirl

We had a great time at the Pendleton Round-up. Jarrod and his family met us for the weekend and you got to spend some time with your cousins. Back at the house we met up with our round-up gang and played mah jong. Then there was the cowboy breakfast, the parade, the rodeo, the bands, the Indian dancing, the parties... it was a busy weekend!

You are a little young to enjoy it all but you really liked being outside and listening to all the live music. And I think we both love to see your dad in a cowboy hat. Oooee!

We had you going nonstop for three days and you are exhausted. Aside from one early morning feeding, you slept 13 hours last night and you are already on your third nap today. 

Having fun at the cowboy breakfast

Indians in the parade

Westward Ho! parade

Mounted band

Ready for your bank hold up

Enjoying the rodeo

Still the best looking cowboy in these parts

Getting ready to go home

Grandpa's married...again

Grandpa Peterson got married today. I'm amazed that this is his 5th wedding.

I really like Lynada and she adores my dad. I truly hope they can be happy together.

My friend Sandra told me that an Iranian saying is that you will have as many marriages as you have crowns in your hair. I can't test it with my dad because most of his hair is long gone. Just in case, I'm glad to see both you and your dad have only one. I have so many cowlicks, it's hard to tell.

Cranky baby

You woke up early today and were cranky all morning. I knew you just needed some more sleep but since your cradleboard mattress was in the wash, I was having no luck getting you down.

I put you in the bjørn and wore you around the house doing laundry, dishes, picking up the house, etc. Still fussy, at least you were manageable and no longer crying. When I sat down to use the bathroom, you finally fell asleep... and I'm thinking, should I just sit here and let you have a nap?

Motherhood is a classy affair alright.

...and I'll be sewing you a spare mattress as soon as we get home from Pendleton.

Let 'er buck!

We're off to the rodeo tomorrow and I just finished your cowgirl getup. Get ready to hear "Awwww" about three thousand times as we traipse through Pendleton - that is if you still fit in it.

Luckily, I didn't have to start from scratch or we'd never have made it.

The jumper is a store-bought gift from Grandma Crow. 

The Michael Miller print is an all-time favorite.

 I really have no idea how to embroider but it turned out OK. 

B - you'll have to give me some pointers at Christmas.

Sadly, you've already grown out of your cowboy booties but alas, dad found you some perfect socks that will finish the outfit out.

Cooking show with Mom and Lucy

You love to hang out in the kitchen while we cook. And oh happy day, I have finally moved passed eating only peanut butter and jam sandwiches!

 

Cooking is much more fun with Lucy in the kitchen!

Tomatoes are on which means lots of grilled sandwiches, caprese salads and salsa. We saw a picture in a magazine and decided to try a caprese pasta salad. The recipe in the magazine turned out to be something totally different but the salad we made up is pretty darn good. Today I made a giant batch of it to eat and to take to Marcy who is pregnant with her 5th baby - yikes!

 

Caprese salad: basil, tomatoes, mozzarella, artichoke hearts, 

corkscrew pasta, salt and pepper = yum

Grandma Crow brought us some beautiful cabbage from her garden but after eating only a little of it, we've decided crucifers are still off the menu because they do terrible things to your stomach. Whenever I'm ready to wean, I can just eat cabbage every day and you won't want to come near me. 

 

Thumbs down to crucifers!