A few scenes from holiday preparations...

All I want for Christmas...

is my two front teeth! The other front toth finally fell out..just in time for the holidays!

Three things that have happened around here...

We got a Chirstmas tree.

Someone decided it's fun to freeze random objects.

Someone got BRACES!!!!!

Scenes from a Santa Fe Thanksgiving

Lots of laughs and great family time. And wonderful SUN! Notice Jim squinting in the photo with me...our eyes took a while to adjust to that bright sunshine. Loved every minute!!

Snow!

A few scenes from playing at the cabin today. We were surprised by the amount of snow that fell up there last night! It was a winter wonderland!

2 Boys Leaf Raking Service

Call now for all your leaf raking needs. Will work for hot chocolate!

Fall bike ride

It cracks me up to see the boys different approaches to attire...we have sweatpants and rainboots on one side and shorts and tennis shoes on the other.
Jackson actually broke down and put on pants this morning.Maybe because it was about 40 degrees!

A super easy delicious recipe

Homesick Texan Carnitas


Adapted, just barely, from The Homesick Texan Cookbook



3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lime juice (from about 2 to 3 limes)

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more to taste



Corn tortillas, for serving plus

Avocado slices, chopped cilantro and fixings of your choice (we love pickled jalapenos or onions, lime wedges and a bit of slaw)



Place the pork in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and enough water to just barely cover the meat. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for two hours. Don’t touch the meat.



After two hours, increase the heat to medium-high and while occasionally stirring and turning the pieces, continue to cook for about 45 minutes, or until all of the liquid has evaporated, leaving only the rendered pork fat. Let it sizzle in this fat long enough to brown at the edges, turning pieces gently (they’ll be eager to fall apart), only as needed.



When pork has browned on both sides, it’s ready. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve on warmed tortillas with fixings.

Halloween party and a little flag football.

The photo doesn't capture the "costumes" that well, but I was a flight attendant and Jim was a ramp worker. He even carried lighted cones to direct airplanes.
Sean is #3 in the football picture. Today's game will be a bit soggy, not like the beautiful sunny day we had last week!

Pumpkin patch and a ski swap

We found the best pumpkin patch last week! It had a ton of great activities for older kids...the boys loved the apple cannon and apple sling shot. There was also a zip line, obstacle course, spooky dark maze and a huge jumping thing called a bouncy pillow.
Then we came home, Jackson went to soccer practice, I hosted book club, we got up for a swim meet , hit the ski swap (that last pic isJackson and his friend Reese trying on some super cool hats) and finally went out for dinner and ice cream.

What's been happening here

School pictures
Walk + Bike to School Day (which I'm in charge of at the boys school)
Soccer, football, swimming
Wordstock and meeting the authors of the book Wildwood (pics to follow)
Making butternut squash, carrot and ginger soup
Making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
Losing the front light of my car (it just fell off)
Buying pumpkins
Finally returning to masters swim practice at 5:30am
Finishing the book Left Neglected (it was okay..Stones From the River was better)

Fall is here!

Rainy farmers market day and a last lake swim

It was a rainy Saturday morning but Sean really wanted to go to the farmers market. (Jim and Jackson stayed home to build the shed....photos of that coming soon). It was actually a great day to go to the market. No crowds, produce looked great and we got a bunch of good things, including some really yummy granola. Oh-and Sean wanted me to mention the bargain we got on zucchini and squash...50 cents each!
The other pic is from a quick after school swim last week. It was pretty chilly but the boys (and Jackson's friend Erik) seemed unconcerned about that...in fact, the water is still pretty warm.

98 degrees and heading back to school

We have had a great August! The big weather news all month (and all summer) has been the fact that we haven't had any days over 90 degrees, except one. We are making up for it now! Hot, hot, hot all week and these poor Oregon children are just not used to the heat!  The heat did not dampen the enthusiasm for going back to school. The boys were very excited to start the new school year. 2nd grade and 4th grade, here we come!

A few pics from an end of summer hike

Just found this...a little back to school inspiration!

"Love yourself, for who and what you are; protect your dream and develop your talent to the fullest extent. Don't lose sight of your goals. No matter what the obstacles are, don't let anything deter you from your best effort. Don't allow anyone to tell you what you can and cannot do. Be tough, be stubborn, love yourself, and find friends who believe in you."


--Joan Benoit Samuelson

Late summer morning

August has been outstanding. After a long and rainy spring, we have been rewarded with an August that is nearly perfect...sunny and 80-85 degrees almost all month. Today we woke up to much cooler weather and you can feel Fall in the air. But it was a nice and relaxed morning...no one was fighting, the boys has some serious Lego building going on and I had a few minutes to search online for a pasta salad recipe to take to a picnic later today. And Talus was content to be in the center of it all, trying to decide if he should nap or take one last stroll through the kitchen in the hope of finding leftover cinnamon toast crumbs.

Another adventure

I'm not sure I'm really ready for this but I'm on a team. One of the runners had a last minute injury so I was asked if I wanted to run again. It's the same team I ran with 2 years ago, though several members have changed. My first leg will be at about 8am...next leg will be around 6pm. The last leg is the middle of the night leg...maybe 4am? I have my head lamp and reflective vest all ready to go. Should be fun!

Back from the beach

We had a great week! The weather was perfect, we loved the house we rented and we had lots of fun times playing outside and visiting with friends. If I can ever dig out from the mountain of sand-filled clothing that's piled up in the laundry room, I'll put up some more photos!