Beating the Heat in Cali

Today it was 93 degrees at our place (yesterday it was like 99). A little warmer than I like, but that's ok. Here's what we do to beat the heat, since we don't have central air:

- a downstairs AC unit that is really loud and a power hog, but keeps the lower level cool
- an upstairs portable AC unit that is not quite so loud and keeps our bedroom cool
- a box fan in the upstairs hallway to blow the cool air into SIG's room
- a box fan in the window to blow the hot air out at night
- foil on the window in SIG's room to deflect some of the heat during the day (not too pretty on the outside, but it helped a lot today!)...thank you, KD, for these helpful ideas.
- keeping the curtains shut (hard, because I like the sunlight!)
All of this makes for a lot of white noise in the apt, especially at night!

Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler :)
To all our family and friends in the Great Northwest - don't you wish you were here in the land of sunshine? :)

Legos and Friends

Today we took a walk up the street to visit some good friends. Here is SIG with his buddy Emilio (who just turned 4). We we walked up to the door, Emilio was waiting for us, and he brought out his big box of legos to play with. Emilio built some great towers, and SIG tore them all down. Emilio also took this photo of us:

Much fun was had by all!

Favorite Finger

Lest you think that SIG only shows his favorite finger when he's with daddy...here's proof that he is indiscriminate with it! :)

Thanks EB for this cute pic!

Great Family Movie!

Last night we got to see one of our favorite movies on TV...Because of Winn Dixie. The movie is based on the book by the same title and authored by Kate Dicamillo. This is a sweet movie about a lonely young girl, Opal, who adopts an orphaned dog in the local Winn-Dixie grocery store. Winn-Dixie becomes her best friend, and in turn helps her make friends with a variety of other lonely people in their small Florida town. Some of the themes that run through the movie are reconciliation, forgiveness, and friendship. This movie is very family friendly, and a delight to see.

The movie came out in Jan 2005. It stars Jeff Daniels, AnnaSophia Robb, Dave Matthews (of the Dave Matthews band), Cicely Tyson and others. We saw this movie because a friend who is associated with Walden Media (the producer of the film) asked JG to help with some of the marketing for it.

We enjoyed this movie when we first saw it, and even more when we saw it again after a couple years!

Some of my favorite things

Strawberry jam...I found strawberries for a really good price today at the produce market I frequent.  I bought a 1-lb box for eating, and 3-pint sized baskets for making jam.  I just made one batch of strawberry freezer jam, and I have enough left over to make another batch (just need to get more pectin).  It's setting right now, and will be ready to eat by tomorrow night.  Yummy! 

Homemade hummous...we could live off of this stuff, really!  My mother in law shared her super-easy, delicious recipe with me years ago, and I've been making it ever since.  We had some tonight with a package of syrian bread from the same market mentioned above. Mmmm....!   And, since I love sharing my food with others, here's the recipe:

Cindy's Hummous Dip

1 can garbanzo beans (save the liquid)

1/4 cup tahini sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed

Olive oil and parsley, for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Add the reserved bean liquid to desired consistency.  Add lemon juice and garlic to your taste. Garnish with olive oil and parsley, if desired.  Store in fridge.  

Glen Ivy!

I had a great day today! I spent the morning at Glen Ivy Day Spa, courtesy of my sweet husband! He got me a gift card for my birthday, so I decided to use part of it today. It was my first time going to a Day Spa, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had tried to arrange to go with a friend, but it didn't work out, so I just went by myself.

I went to the Day Spa in Brea, and it was very nice. I spent the first half hour relaxing in the hot tub, then I sat in the steam room for a bit. I had never been in a steam room, so that was a little strange... Then, I took a book into one of the lounges and sat in a comfy chair to read. I sipped iced tea and read for 45 minutes without interruption! (Wow, that hasn't happened since before I had my son 15 months ago.) Then, back into the hot tub for a bit, then I got a manicure. Very relaxing! Next time, I want to go to the Glen Ivy Hot Springs, where they have a whole resort to enjoy, including mud baths!

$3.55 per gallon

...the price I paid for gas today. This is at the nearby Costco, the cheapest place around here. And...I was happy about this price because it was 4 cents cheaper than last week.

Building blocks for life...the TP way!

When it comes to baby-proofing the house, I am a stickler on some things, a little less strict on others, and then some things I don't really worry about...this is one of the latter...

This picture is in our bathroom, sort of. The sink/mirror/cabinets are seperated from the toilet and shower by a sliding door. If you are facing the sink, there is a huge closet behind you, which is in front of little SIG. All of the lower cabinets are behind him, and have strong magnets that keep them shut...except for one. This one can open easily, and it happens to be the closest to the sliding door, so we only keep tp in there. I am standing at the sink, brushing my teeth this morning. SIG is playing in my room, and he follows me into the bathroom. I look down to check on him, and this is what I find.
I think to myself, "At least he isn't pulling the TP off the roll and putting it into the toilet..!" :)

A New Friend

Today we all had lunch with a friend who had moved out of state last year. She and her husband had their first baby on Christmas Day - a sweet little boy. Here are the two babies:
And, here are my two boyfriends:Notice the middle finger in SIG's mouth...he used to do this all the time, but we hadn't seen it in a while. I was happy to catch it on film today. Cute, huh?

Sausage Quiche

Another yummy recipe! (Thanks to my friend AMG who inspired me to take pictures of my food as I am cooking along...!)

I made this yummy sausage quiche a few weeks ago for a mom's group I've been going to at church. The recipe says it makes two 9" round pans, but I got one 8" square dish and another that was nearly twice that size, but oval shaped. It was perfect - I made the big one to take to my group, and the small one for my hubby to have at home. Everyone loved it! My husband couldn't stop raving about it, and the ladies all wanted the recipe. So, I made it again this past week. But this time I made the small square pan and a large 13x9 pan as well. Here it is all mixed together the night before:
(notice my handy Pampered Chef Mix 'N Scraper...love it!)

And here is the final product just out of the oven:
This is a good recipe to prep the night before, because you have to brown the sausage and grate a bunch of cheese. I used pork sausage, but I bet chicken or turkey sausage would be great, too, and cut out a little bit of the fat. Here's the recipe - it's so delicious!


Sausage Quiche
Beat together in a large mixing bowl:
12 eggs
2 cups (16 oz) small curd cottage cheese
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup flour
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking powder


Add:
1 pound bulk mild pork sausage, browned
¼ pound bulk hot pork sausage, browned

Other tasty add-ins: Onion, tomato, mushroom, green chilies, green/red sweet peppers, leftover baked potatoes, etc.

Pour mixture into 2 greased 9-inch round baking dishes and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (if desired). Bake at 375 for 33-38 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Muslims coming to Christ in mass numbers

Check-out J.P. Moreland's website and blog about how Muslims are coming to the LORD!

Pretty exciting news here>>

J.P. talks more about these matters in his award-winning Kingdom Triangle

Enjoy!

BREAKING NEWS: New Worldview Alert!

As part of a club of academic folk that make it our business to declare the presence and propensity - if not potency - of a new worldview on the market, permit me, as the president of this happy gang of some, to declare that we have found a new worldview in our midst ...

"PAN-MOM-MA-ISM"

The main doctrine of this worldview is the simple but existentially important claim, "All is mommy, and mommy is all."

No doubt, the worldview is as old as the concept of mommy itself.

SIG has been caught-up in this attractive wave of thinking for sometime. But there appears to be evidence that he has now become a devotee of pan-mom-ma-ism, choosing to adopt and adapt his life to its main doctrine. He lives rather consistently with his worldview, never forsaking an object of his intention in order to note that such and such is "mom-ma!" and over there is "mom-ma," and that hairy guy holding him - you know, the guy with the rhythmic lips - he's also "mom-ma." There you have it, pan-mom-ma-ism at work.

We are pleased to offer this Public Service Announcement, which is a further division of our worldview discernment ministry.

Breakfast at our Place

Whenever I'm in the kitchen cooking...er, trying to cook...my little guy loves to be in on all the action. This usually means he wants to be held up at eye level so he can see what's on the counter, see what's cooking on the stove, etc ... Since I often need both hands for the prep work, it helps to put SIG on the floor and have him cook right alongside me. He keeps his little pan and spoon in a cupboard next to all his "bowls" (ie, plastic containers) and all I have to do is ask him if he wants to cook with me. Here's a cute video of SIG making breakfast for us all this morning:

Walk This Way

Well, little SIG started walking about a month ago. He had been taking 3-4 steps at a time, then he would fall down and crawl. Then, one night he just walked clear across the living room - at least 20 steps, like he had been doing it all along. He's been walking most of the time ever since. Now that our 1 yr old is walking, life is no longer what we knew. We are constantly chasing him around and pulling him down off of things (like the shelves in the fridge :). He's much quicker and sturdier on his feet after a few weeks of practice. Here are a couple of videos I caught today.




Here's one I took outside in the courtyard:

My new toy

What do the following items have in common - 6 short straws, 6 frozen juice lids, and an empty parmesan cheese container?

My friend KD inspired me to make this toy... shape-sorter redefined! As you can see, it was a big hit!
The lids fit through the bigger opening, and the straws fit through the small holes. When all the items are put inside, it makes a great shaker toy! :)