Farm Market Sidedish

Cori hardly gets the opportunity to do any grocery shopping. It is a job I usually take care of. The poor guy has to settle for my food selections and menu choices. He never complains though I know there are things he'd like me to buy/cook more often (frozen foods, white bread, and various meat products to name a few). Once in a while he comes with me, and when he does I end up buying 50% more than usual.

My mom's visit this week has afforded us some time away. We spent the other morning shopping. I like to go to the farmer's market down the street before I go to the store. The prices are great and most of what they have is locally grown and is sooooooooo tasty. With Cori's help, we ended up with an impressive array of produce. This was an easy dish that used up a chunk of our stash.

Hot Corn Salsa
by me

1 large beefsteak tomato
3 ears sweet corn
1 green bell pepper
3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
1/2 of a medium red onion
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 C jalapeno cheese
juice of one lime

• Dice the pepper, tomato and onion. Cut the corn off the cob (raw). Shred cilantro and cheese.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add the pepper, tomato and raw corn. Saute until tender crisp.
• Take skillet off heat and stir in diced tomato, cilantro and lime juice.
• Season to taste and top with cheese.

It is a yummy pan of produce!

Then and Now: August 07-08

A Tubbie Journal

Tub time has always had a special place in our little routine. When Gracie was a baby (what? She is still my baby, right?) and we were getting her into her schedule, I was militant about making sure she had a bath at the same time every night. In the three years since her birth, I've loosened my gears a bit which is probably for the best. The kids enjoy a bath every other night during the week, and every night on the weekends.

Grant is keen on splashing and being right in the middle of whatever Grace is trying to play with. He laughs and lets her pour water over his head and in his eyes.

Gracie is pretty normal in her bath time diversions. But when it comes time to exit the tub, we have a routine, prescribed by Grace, that gets followed to the last detail on a regular basis.

• I let her have some time to play 'alone'
• I tell her it is time to put toys away. And she has to say 'Okay mommy!'
• I cannot help her put toys away unless she asks me for help
• Once toys are away, she lies on her tummy and blows bubbles
• Then, she unstops the drain and cannot get out until she has 'helped' all the water go down with her hands
• And finally, with the water fully drained, she is ready for her towel

Sheesh. She asked me to take some pictures of her making faces with her towel on. These were my favorite.

Blessings

My mommy comes tomorrow. We get her for a whole week and a half. I'm so happy.

Closing ceremonies of the Olympics are tonight. We have l-o-v-e-d watching the games. But I'm grateful that they are nearly over. I need to go to bed a little earlier for goodness sake.

I received a very sweet compliment today via a friend. To her, it probably seemed like a little thing to mention. But it really made a difference to me, and I'm very grateful she thought to pass it along.

Our Gracie girl who is learning how to use her sense of humor to appease her mommy in disciplinary moments. She can be very silly, and irresistibly funny. I tend to be too serious and it is a blessing for me (most of the time) to have her spunky personality to balance me out.

Swinger

Gracidotes

Grace at 8:15 AM: Can I have an Otter pop?
Me: Yes, you can have one after lunch.
Grace: I can?! Oh thank you mommy. You're so handsome.
Me: Well, boys are handsome. Girls are beautiful. So you would say that Daddy is handsome, and that Gracie is beautiful.
Grace: Yeah. But you're handsome.


Grace while playing with the garden hose outside: Can I go inside with this thing? (This is really how she talks)
Me: Nope. Sorry. You can go inside and play with other toys, or stay outside and play with the hose.
Grace: thinks with a perplexed expression on her face
Grace: That's not really a choice.



She loves wearing her purple dress (the dress she has on in the sidebar picture). She has called it her twirly dress, her princess dress, her dancing dress, and her pretty dress. I try to limit the number of times she wears it because I spend all of Church chasing her around trying to get her to stop twirling/dancing/princessing. This Sunday she gave it a new name and function. When I told her that she could wear her princess dress, she clasped her hands and said, "And then Daddy can marry me!"

I should add that I would have spent all of Sacrament meeting getting her to behave in her twirly dress, except that I was subbing for our organist. Cori sits on the stand. I had farmed Grace and Grant out to other people during the hymns of which we had four. They didn't have the heart to stop her. Grace stood in the center aisle and twirled and twirled her dress all through the hymns. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you have only 30 people in your Sacrament meeting something like that becomes a center stage distraction in no time. Cori and I flashed her the boldest stink eyes we could manage from the stand to no avail. Some people's kids.

Please do not be alarmed by the shocking lack of clothing here. The kid likes to sleep in her diaper. She is on the phone with her aunt Sara. I was tickling her while she was trying to talk when...

To Sara: Could you please hold on for one minute?
To Me, after lowering her sunglasses: Will you please stop doing that?
To Sara: Okay, I'm back.
Sometimes I feel like I need to remind her that she's only 2 (and 3/4).

Blessings

Allanson, river front

A quiet weekend with nothing in particular planned. Very nice.

My alma mater School is getting ready to start. I always get homesick for BYU around this time in August.

A happy baby boy who is really learning how to get around.