Fireweed Impressions Rave

Nicole did it again – it’s all her fault! A couple of months ago Nicole’s little sister had a baby boy, and Nicole ordered a mother’s necklace with the baby’s name and birthstone for her. I was quietly jealous; I’ve wanted a mother’s necklace for a long time, but my…

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One More Step

When it comes to home improvement projects I don’t have much patience and usually want things done NOW. That’s when Teacher gently reminds me that “life is a marathon; not a sprint” and that the only way to get somewhere is by taking one step at a time. A few…

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Pesto Cream Sauce To Die For

We don’t go to Noodles often, but when we do I almost always get the same thing: Pesto Cavatappi. It’s a little bit of Heaven in a bowl: creamy, cheesy, noodley, basil-y, carb-filled, don’t-ask-how-many-calories divineness. Mmmmmmm… Pesto Cream Sauce Irish Girl found a recipe for a pesto cream sauce that’s…

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Healthy Spinach Pasta Salad Recipe

During the summer Teacher and I try to eat both lighter and healthier, so salads are a natural choice. The kids aren’t as thrilled about it, but we try to find salads with ingredients that they’ll like. College Boy calls salad “Rabbit Food” although he will eat a polite amount……

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Oreo Cheesecake Cupcake Recipe

Irish Girl has a fattening habit of making dessert on the nights she makes supper. One day she made Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes – she had to make them in the early afternoon so they’d have time to chill. Z-Man started out helping but was quickly bored so I handed over…

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Top 10 Weird Phrases Heard in Our House

In no particular order… 1. “Could you please not sneeze into the batter?” – Irish Girl to Little Guy while making cheesecakes. Keep an eye out for the recipe – it’s worth the wait! 2. “This isn’t my band-aid – why is it on my knee?” – Jo-Bear, staring at…

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Bourbon Chicken a la College Boy

As I’ve said before, one of the benefits of having College Boy, Irish Girl and Love Bug live with us besides getting to know Irish Girl and Love Bug better is trying out some of their favorite recipes. Recently College Boy made Bourbon Chicken and it was a definite home…

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Childhood Nutrition Training

Almost every month our Valley AEYC meeting includes continuing education, and last month’s training was Childhood Nutrition by my friend Dorothy and one of her co-workers, Sarah. When I met Dorothy eight years ago she was morbidly obese – weighing over 350 pounds – was diabetic, had high blood pressure,…

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Chicago 2011 – Part Eight

Teacher almost always “beeps” when he goes through metal detectors; this time it was his belt buckle. Not that he’s got a honkin’ big belt buckle, the detectors are just THAT sensitive.   Once inside the park we connect with the rest of the group. Most of the kids in…

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Chicago 2011 – Part Seven

We rose bright and early Saturday morning to get ready for competition. Obviously it’s early but few of us are “bright” at this time of the morning.   After breakfast runny eggs and soggy hash browns, with bacon good enough to make up for them Chuck led us in a…

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