Blogging, Shooting and the Forgotten Son

When I started blogging, it was a way for long distance family and friends to stay up to speed with the kids. Then, I started blogging to the community of other like minded mom-types. I have to say, I have really really enjoyed blogging and these bloggy friendships.

I notice a trend though of bloggers saying things like, "I am so sorry I haven't blogged for a while," or "I have been really bad at blogging." My first instinct is to say, "Me too." But a new revelation has occurred to me: I developed a life! Not as in, "Get a life." But as in, I don't have as much time for blogging or reading other people's blogs bc I am really doing stuff. Albeit, sometimes that stuff is a nap, but I know you understand. ;-)

I'm not giving up on blogging, I'm just finally accepting the fact that I am a part time blogger.

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Three weeks ago I did a promotional shoot (so to speak). Since I wasn't getting paid, I didn't bother to get a babysitter so I drug Ethan along as my "assistant." Here he is helping me get my focus set:

He was an enormous help to me. Anyway, this guy, below, showed up while we were walking back to the parking lot.
He tried to act like he wasn't following us - but here he is a half a mile later. I can hear his thoughts now, "play it cool, play it cool. dammit, why didn't I bring a newspaper or sunglasses?"

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I feel kind of bad for Gabriel. Now that he is in school, there are so many more pictures of Ethan. So many times, Gabriel gets in the car after school, sees the garbage on the floor of my car and asks with a hurt heart, "you guys went to mcdonalds today?" And to console him I reply, "yeah, but we already have that toy, so you didn't miss anything." We eat way too much junk food.

Here are a couple of pictures from the last time we babysat Duke (the dog). G was watching Batman and using Duke as a pillow.


For some future posts I have pics from the bike rodeo (G's school), a hike we went on with our friends and a wedding we went to!

the coolest music video EVER

Spring Has Sprung

Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
-Robert Frost

In the spirit of spring and new life; my cousin Pearl called me from the hospital ... in labor! Yay! God bless you, Wilson Family!

My Poor, Pathetic Baby

He was pretty sick a couple of weeks ago. He still has some cough but nothing like before. Here he is; watching cartoons and being tolerant of me and my non-stop shutter...
We spent most of our time in the upstairs loft at our house - just chilling: reading books, playing Mr. Potato Head and (of course) watching SpongeBob.

I just love how his toes curled around the tube. He lives up to his nickname, monkey.
Goodness, look at how large this child is getting!

Artichokes, a success!

A success? Yes! But practice makes perfect.

My first attempt was not good. At first, it was inedible - so I stuck them back in the pot for another 45 minutes. We filled up on brie, chevre, hot french bread and coppa, as suspected. It was almost 10 o'clock at night before we actually got to eat the artichokes. They were edible but the wait sucked the joy out of it.

Later that night we tried 150 calorie per serving tiramisu. Don't try this at home, kids. It was a chaotic mess. From the get-go I knew it wasn't going to turn out well, but I pressed on to the very end and even served it after our artichokes. Despite the approval of the flavor from my dinner companions, I threw out the leftovers. The moral of the story: Tiramisu is best left to full calorie deliciousness. And probably home made lady fingers.

Two days later, I made artichokes again. This time I started them in the morning and by late afternoon, they were fit to eat. And they were awesome! If you want to try making them, my advice is give them lots of time!

Here is the recipe for the dip I served them with.

In other food related news, Brandon bought a Bubba Keg. This is a big deal. He has become something of a meat master and the purchase of the Bubba only makes his skills more apparent. You know, when you have better equipment, you make a better product. Now that he's mastered the fried turkey, I'd like him to smoke one.

At present, I am trying to use up some baby bella mushrooms I picked up at Costco. Any ideas? We love mushrooms but I don't always have this many lying around the house!