Please tell me they are joking...

So, economy is not so hot. People aren't spending so much money on clothes, and Sears is going to attract people with a line of "relaxed and sexy" children's clothes designed by LL Cool J? (yes, i did just say SEXY and CHILDREN in the same sentence)Yeah - good decision.

In the interest of trying new things

I've been looking for a few new things to do for dinner. So, in the past few weeks i've tried a few internet finds (where i find 95% of my recipes)

For Mother's day - i tried out this spinach quiche - it was yummy
Spinach Quiche

Last week - I experimented with a black bean/beef burrito for a quick dinner. The kids both ate 1 and My H also ate it - so I'll label it a success (the girls griped a bit, but they gripe about pretty much anything that isn't pizza)
Black Bean and Beef Burritos


Last night I tried The Pioneer Womans "best lasagna EVER" - and I have to admit - it had wonderful flavor. K2 ate so much she was ill - so that was also a success.
Best Lasagna Ever
Its more meaty than my usual lasagna - so now I'm torn on which to do, it i were to do one.... My usual is quicker so that might be the deciding factor:
Barilla Lasagna

I also bought everything to do a homemade hummus - can you believe it, I found tahini at WALMART? I hope to do that this afternoon for a snack.
Hummus

Edit:
I finally did the hummus. The first day - didn't like the taste - something missing. Decided to let it "merge" in the fridge. Two days later, it tasted like i expected. Or perhaps i was starving? anyhow - let it sit over night.

A slow week

Not much going on this week. The big dog, who had a cold, is recovering and adjusting. He is not as docile as he was in the beginning, but he is still extremely good natured. And much better trained than the little dogs. H got him groomed and dipped last week so he smells better too. Sawyer LOVES the backyard and chasing squirrels. Many times he doesn't want to come inside. We got him a dog house, but so far the girls are in it more than he is. We also tried to get him a bed inside but he seems to prefer the cool tile.

The girls are getting ready for summer - i can't believe the school year is almost up!

An addition to the menagerie

My H has always had a thing for big dogs, and over the years he has brought home more than one. And usually we end up having to find new ( and sadly better) homes for them for various reasons. But that thing about big dogs - well, it persists.

And I have to blame his cousin a bit for this, as last September she put a bug in his ear about the possibility of a well trained dog failing training and coming to live with him sometime in March. I agreed because it would be a well-trained dog. Well, March came, and well trained dog passed. So, no big dog after all. (or so I thought)

Friday he comes home with a picture of a big dog whose time is soon to be up at the SPCA. Of course, he shows it to K2 who readily starts promising all the chores she would do "for no money" if the dog was saved by us. I ask H - "is getting a big dog inevitable?" - Yeah, it is. I'm also remembering how he didn't really bat an eye when I drug home two rescued kittens from the shed behind work. So, we talk and agree to "go look at him" tomorrow.

After K2's basketball game (they won!) We head north to the SPCA. We walk in and are asking if we just walk back to look at the dogs when the lady says to H - "Oh, are you back to look at Sawyer AGAIN?" - haha - He's BUSTED.

So, they go get Sawyer and bring him to the "get acquainted room" and K2 throws her arms around his neck in a hug like she had finally found some treasured long lost friend. You know, if I didn't know it was all over before, it surely was now.

Yes, we have a big dog. He's pretty sweet. Mostly mellow, but BIG, and i mean BBBBBBIIIIIGGGGG. (Newfoundland/Lab mix, heavy on the Newfoundland)







The other two dogs had to give him a nip to show who was boss ( yes, the little dogs are boss) and after that all has been fine between the 3 of them. The cats hiss at him and then sniff at him when he is asleep, but no fights. So all good there, too.





he really likes me, for some strange reason - cause I'm still working on being a big dog person. He must have belonged to a woman ( and no, we don't know his story)

I also have a Ravelry Addiction

In my quest to finally learn to knit, I joined a website called Ravelry to help inspire me ( and give me tips!)

Well, instead of inspiring me to knit, it keeps tempting me with crochet.(which I have been doing, although not really well, for many years) So now I've seen more crochet things than I could ever HOPE to finish. But it is fun!

I'm currently doing a "Circles In Squares" Afghan. It is in "Jumptown colors" and I hope one of the girls will claim it. IF I finish it - that is. I'm still uncertain on the "sew it all together" line - I mean, that's quite a leap.

If you join Ravelry - look me up!

I have an Etsy Addiction....

I love this site called Etsy (www.etsy.com) where you can look at all the homemade crafts ( my pusher *ahem* I mean friend who led me to this site shall remain nameless)

My problem isn't that I buy a lot of crafts, but i want to figure out how to make just about everything i see. "how do they do that?" and more importantly "how can I do that?!?!" Then i research how it is done and start trying to figure out how to convince my kids to go to a craft store (i usually fail miserably on this step... which is probably a good thing)

It's a Different World....

K1 has COMPLETELY BONDED with another girl from her class, also a K, hmm K3? (gosh - i'm so original) I'm really pleased because they get along well, and share a love of school.

The part that cracks me up - and is such a new experience for me - is they are now comparing book notes. K1 will come home and announce that her friend "has read this book, and says its the best ever, and she MUST READ IT NOW" - heh. And she will pester until she gets it. So, i usually let her drag her father out to Barnes & Nobels that evening on the quest for the BEST BOOK EVER. (the first time it was "The Diary of the Wimpy Kid", then it was all the Royal Diaries,....)

This week is is some thing strange called "Tokyo Mew Mew" ?!? And she tells me it is a comic book - and it is THE BEST EVER, and of course - IT MUST BE LOCATED - and how soon can we go to a comic book store? I compromise on Half Price Books because "hey - they have comic books", and not to mention her sister has suddenly seen the light and started reading. (can you hear the angles sing?) K2 is "a big fan" of the Magic Tree House books - just starting this week after getting 2 from Grandma - and she wants more - gasp- so, I'm getting as many as she will read and i know Half Price books has a shelf full of them.


So, we get about 5 Magic tree house books, and i walk over to the comic book section. But K1 says 'NOT THOSE, its this backwards book thingy' - oh brother, I'm in over my head here. But on the side shelf under the comics books - THERE IT IS. It is a book, and you read it backwards, and it is in the "Manga" section. Manga? *sigh* - there is another new word for me. (japanese comic books, apparently)

I'm a bit bothered because some Japanese Animation - well - isn't exactly 3rd grade appropriate. But she shows me the "4 kids" sign on the back and not the '17+' on a similar looking one i had picked up in the same section.

So, now I've learned about Magna and that Tokyo Mew Mew is about an 11 year old crime fighting super heroine and how the A LA MODE book we found wasn't the best, and oh yeah - she can get them on Amazon if she can talk her Dad into it.....

First Basketball game

K2 had her first basketball game this past weekend. They lost, but she scored several points (at least 10). For her first time, i thought that was pretty GREAT. She is having fun, and that is the best part.