Sparklies

For those who were curious, here's the beautiful glittery thing that Nathan bought me for my birthday! I'm such a magpie ... bright shiny things are my downfall! :)

Turning 30

Yesterday I turned 30. The big 3-0. It was a little rough, but not completely awful. My family spoiled me rotten and treated me like the queen for the day, which was very nice indeed! For dinner, Nathan cooked me a gourmet meal that was sooooo yummy ... pan-seared sea scallops with a brown-butter and Hazelnut glaze on a bed of arugula, and pasta with a shitake mushroom/creme fraiche sauce that was DIVINE! Then it was tiramisu for dessert (my favorite!). My hubby got me a beautiful diamond necklace, and the boys picked out some jewelry for me as well. Yes indeed ... spoiled rotten!


Pan-seared sea scallops for dinner! YUMO!



Things I realized while turning 30 yesterday:

1. Birthdays in my 20s were fun and carefree. I doubt I will feel that way about a birthday of mine again. Ugh.

2. I will be 58 when Rhylah turns 30.

3. When it comes to candles on a cake, a representative number makes the birthday honoree feel much better about their age. I blew out three, and felt somewhat mollified...

4. I don't know where to shop. While at the mall today, I realized that most shops are designed for women who are 20 and slightly on the edgey side. Or else for 30 or 40-somethings who are working professionals. What about stay at-home-moms in our 30s?

5. I kept adding up the years from 1979 till now, all day long, just to make sure I had the math right and didn't, accidently, miscount...Maybe I'm still in my 20s!! Foolish hope.

6. I feel the need to accomplish something significant. Of course, I'm instantly reminded of FRIENDS, the episode where Joey and Chandler decide to do something significant...

Joey: Everybody's doing stuff!
Chandler: And we just sit here. I mean if I die the only way people would even know I was here, would be by the ass print on this chair! Look, we have to do something. Okay? Something huge!
Joey: We could climb Mt. Everest!
Chandler: No-no, not something stupid, something huge.
Joey: No-no-no-no-no, I saw an ad for this video, people climb that thing everyday! We could totally do that!
Chandler: Why not?! I mean it’s just, it’s just climbing! It’s just, it’s just steep!
Joey: Yeah!
Chandler: We’re going to Everest! Okay, it would be nice to leave an ass print on Everest!

Second Breakfast

Aragorn: Gentlemen, we do not stop till nightfall.
Pippin: What about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. What about second breakfast?
Merry: I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it.
(From the movie "Lord of the Rings")


Here is a photo of my kids enjoying "Second Breakfast" this morning. I always feed them first thing in the morning, but don't get around to my own breakfast until after we get home from dropping Gabe off at school. At this point, the two younglings think they're hungry again. Today, I was making waffles for myself, so I just broke down and made some for them too...a hearty Second Breakfast.
A few minutes later I walked into the kitchen to find Miss Rhylah mauling her plate like a bear on a honey pot ... licking off the syrup, and even rubbing her face back and forth in it, grinning the entire time!

Random Photos etc.

I've been sick with a nasty cold, so blogging has fallen by the wayside. Here are a few shots from the past week...



It got to 60 degrees last Thursday so we went to the park. Here's Mr. Asher, warming up the slide for a new season of fun!


Rhy always goes down slides head first. I'm not sure how to cure her of this potentially dangerous trait...


It was so fun to actually let Rhy play! Last Fall, by the time we finished going to the park for the season, she wasn't walking yet!


Sunday breakfast ... check out the piggies!


Mmmm...mini waffles!


Here are all my kiddos this morning sitting together and watching Madagascar 2 ... they got it for Valentine's Day.

Oh, and yes, we did make it the full week without TV and REALLY enjoyed ourselves too! I'm already finding that I turn it on less, as a result. If there's nothing on, which is the case 90% of the time, I just switch it back off!

Rejecting the Idiot Box

My family and I are runnning an experiment. We are attempting to go one week without television. We started on Friday night, and we are still going strong.
Why did we do this? Well ... it's not an emergency intervention by any stretch of the imagination. We don't LIVE in front of the television. Although I sometimes have it on during the day as background noise, and we watch pretty faithfully at night after the kids are in bed.
But lately, I've been feeling (especially at night) that our lives seem centered around that darn glowing box, the "idiot box" in the corner of our living room. How interesting it would be ... I thought to myself, if for one week, we had to entertain ourselves... THINK for ourselves rather than letting the box entertain and think for us. So we turned it off. (Including Gabe's Wii gaming system, which, remarkably, he hasn't flipped out about yet...)
The first day was hard ... more for me than for anyone else. I jokingly told Nathan that I had the "shakes" from withdrawal. Our house was just so QUIET. Even though we kept classical music and jazz constantly tuned in, the silence was incredible. And it made me nervous. And sad. What kind of a world do I live in, where the noise of the idiot box has become such an ingrained THING, that I feel edgey when it is not there?
So, what did we do instead of watch TV? Mostly, we've been reading. Nate and I took turns going to the library on Saturday and each came back with half-a-dozen books. The first day, we each finished one. THE FIRST DAY. The kids barely noticed the television was gone...they never asked once if they could have it on ... they just played. (which gives me high hopes that we haven't waited "too long" to try this) After the kids go to bed each night, Nate and I snuggle up on opposite ends of the couch, listen to music and read, occasionally sharing funny or interesting parts of our books or taking breaks to just chat about life in general.
This experience has been eye-opening so far. Incredible and well worth it. I would urge others to give it a try ... I will blog again this weekend and let you all know how we survived the full week!

This little piggy ....

It's Saturday morning and the boys are all at basketball practice at the high school ... which means the girls are ruling the roost back home! Wahoo! Check out what I did with Rhylah's hair this morning!! Her "baby mullet" as I lovingly call it, is too short to pull back into a single pony, but Nathan suggested that I try pig tails, and ta-da! Aren't they just TOOOO cute!! She was so patient, sitting on her little bench, waiting as I detangled and brushed and twistied her hair. And oh my gosh, she looked TOO CUTE when we finished!! Of course, she pulled them out within minutes, but still! It made me sniffle a bit, to actually be able to do my daughter's hair ... I've been waiting a good 30 years for this moment!!


Rhylah sits patiently on her little bench, for mommy to finish her masterpiece.


Cute little pig-tailed girl on the loose!


I know I'm biased, but I think she's the cutest thing EVER.

Blog Slacker

My kiddos relax while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (a morning tradition in our household) on the Disney channel.

Wow, have I been a blogging slacker lately. I blame it on two things. One ... nothing much interesting is going on in Katrina's world lately, other than sick kids, sick kids and oh...sick kids...(I'm up to my eyeballs in amoxacillin and snotty Kleenexes ... ewww.) And two....Nate stole my camera card and only returned it yesterday, so I've only been able to take five photos at a time before my camera was full ... thus making my camera somewhat obsolete and relegating it to the desk drawer in disgrace.
Do I have something to blog about today? Not really. But I felt the need to make my presence known. Yes.... I am still alive. And what am I doing today in my fantastically exciting life? Making soup stock and listening to classical music while my kids nap...oh, and enjoying the sunlight streaming in through my windows. My house smells like rosemary, my kitchen is clean and life is good. :)


This is Rhylah's new habit ... climbing on everything, especially the kitchen table chairs, where I think she hopes to be served a gourmet meal if she waits long enough...dream on sweet girl!


This shot is blurry, but I love it. "Where's Rhylah??" (she's thinking.."If I can't see mommy, mommy can't see me and she'll NEVER know I was here!!")