New Posts

Everytime I go to write a post for the blog something happens to either the 2 year old or the 3 month old. So here I am promising that I will get back to posting again soon. I so enjoy reading all the blogs that I read that they inspire me! In the meantime this is who I have been busy with.

Lizzie Borden: Girl Detective

I just found out our cousin Richard in Keane, New Hampshire wrote a new book! It's about Lizzie Borden. Before she was on trail for the hatchet murders of her father and step mother. If your are from New England you'll know the story of their murders already.

Lizzie Borden: Girl Detective by Richard Behrens. 

The description of the book on the Lizzie Borden: Girl Detective blog reads:

Introducing Miss Lizzie Borden of Fall River, Massachusetts, a most excellent girl detective and the most remarkable young woman ever to take on the criminal underworld in late 19th century New England.
Many years before her infamous arrest and trial for the murders of her father and stepmother, Lizzie Borden pursued a career as a private consulting detective and wrestled masterfully with a crooked spiritualist, a corrupt and murderous textile tycoon, a secret society of anarchist assassins, rowdy and deadly sporting boys, a crazed and vengeful mutineer, an industrial saboteur, and a dangerously unhinged math professor—none of whom are ever exactly what they seem to be.
In these five early tales of mystery and adventure, Lizzie Borden is joined by her stubborn and stingy father Andrew; her jealous and weak-chinned sister Emma; her trusted companion Homer Thesinger the Boy Inventor; and the melancholy French scion Andre De Camp. Together, they explore Fall River’s dark side through a landscape that is industrial, Victorian, and distinctly American.
You have met Lizzie Borden before! But never like this!
Includes the following stories:

• The Forlorn Maggie
• The Purloined Curio
• The Exhausted Amanuensis
• The Traumatized Metallurgist
• The Melancholy Scion

Looks like a great read! I would highly recommend it, if not just because the author is related to me, and that means quality!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there. 

Instead of talking about how grateful I am for being a mom, I thought I would just post the above picture. It pretty much just sums it all up.

I love you, honey! I love you, Tesla!

20 Years Later

Congratulations to my sister and brother in law on their 20 year anniversary today. I remember your wedding day like it was yesterday. It was one of the best days in my life! Thank you so much for sharing your lives with me!

I look forward to you congratulating us on our 20th!

A Shiksa's 1st Passover

Okay technically it's not my first. Last year we celebrated Passover with some good friends who are religious and I was able to experience a real Passover. Even if it wasn't a first night. See Passover lasts 7-8 days depending on the website you look at. Yes it's true I just googled "How long does Passover last?" I'm not proud, I don't claim I actually know anything at all.

 Jason telling us the history.

Anyway, I do want our daughter even if we are not a religious family to have good solid family traditions. Growing up we always had traditions despite our religiousness. We celebrated all the holidays with the exception of the Jewish ones and I guess the Catholic ones because we don't put ash on our head or anything... I guess you can say we were uncomplicated folk. So part of giving our daughter traditions is to teach her about the Jewish holidays. I'm not sure how we're going to do this but we'll do it by trial and error. There's a whole lot going on in September that is highly confusing and symbolic, one step at a time!

 Veggie Kugel (Left) Tzimmes (right)

So what is a Shiksa's Passover if there is not a religious aspect to it? Well it's food, good conversation and the story of the travel through Egypt by the Jews as told by Papa in a very animated way. (I'm hoping to make dolls to represent everyone and then we can act it out! Wouldn't that be fun. But then Papa said I had to make dolls for each of the plagues, including the frogs... not sure about that. Although I was looking at a windup frog yesterday and thought hey! Maybe we could fill the table with windup toys. Or not.) I started cooking on Tuesday. The menu was:

• Lamb
• Veggie Kugel
• Haroset
• Tzimmes
• Asparagus
• Gifelte Fish
• Matzoh
• Matzoh Ball Soup
• Macaroons
• Wine
• Decaf Coffee

We decided to celebrate Passover just one of the nights and picked Wednesday since that is our regular dinner club night. Our friend Nigel joined us as always. It was quite fitting because Nigel is originally from New Zealand, and complains that we American's just do not know how to do Lamb. He said it was very good, which of course it was, but apparently kiwi's like their Lamb overdone, and I just cannot do that to anything. 

I did make a sedar plate, but nothing was really done with it. (Oh yes, that's really a picture of our sedar plate. Not it's not, it's from Wikipedia. Thank you Wiki!) A sedar plate contains:

• Bitter herbs (Parsely soaked in salt water)
• Horseradish
• Roasted Egg (boiled egg works)
• Haroset
• Lamb bone (we didn't do this part because we're entirely to cheap to go buy another lamb to get the bone and we just don't have east coast butchers.) 

Tesla found the Afikomen. The Afikomen is a piece of Matzoh that has been hidden. (See how I dumb that down? So simple.) In Tesla's case I showed it to her, had her chase me around the room and then placed it on the floor behind her wedge pillow... Then said "Tesla get the Afikomen!" I can't believe she found it! She's a genius I tell you!!! She loved the Matzoh, it turns into quite a mush when mixed together with all the other foods. She's a great eater though and had everything except the fish. The fact that I served fish in my home is a miracle. The fact that it's still in a jar in my fridge is because I love my husband very much.

Let me know if you would like any recipes. Everything came out fantastically with the exception of the Haroset. Jason said he's had it much more soaked in wine and my recipe only called for 4 tablespoons. Perhaps the apples were to big in relation to the wine. Not sure.

Yes she's just wearing a diaper. She's taken to crying for no reason and once I remove her clothes she's fine. She must be my daughter!

Follow the links if you're interested in more information about Passover. We had a fun night and will continue our tradition.

Weekend Away in Port Townsend

 As some of you know, Jason and I went away for the weekend, to Port Townsend. We dropped Tesla off at Grandma's house at about 9:00 am and got up to Edmonds to catch the ferry to Port Townsend a little late and ended up having to wait for the next one at 10:45. Not to bad. I remember waiting in line for the ferry when I was little and it seemed like it took HOURS! I'm sure I'm exaggerating but during the summer it can take quite a long time.

We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast by the name of the Blue Gull Inn. The owners John and Renee were lovely. The B&B was decorated beautifully. Our room the Angel Room was very comfortable, and had a private bath with a jacuzzi tub. Oh yeah. I had a nice long hot soak in there and finished a book finally too! The breakfast was amazing. They served a Pecan French Toast, with slices of ham, and deviled eggs. I don't eat mayo or mustard but Jason tells me that the eggs were delicious. 

When we got into town on Saturday we had lunch at Fin's Coastal Cuisine. The menu was a bit lacking, with a high amount of Seafood, and not a lot of choices for those of us, that just go to seafood restaurants because they love their husbands but wouldn't actually touch seafood with a ten foot poll.  That being said, my steak sandwich was delicious and the garlic fries were to die for. Jason had a salmon sandwich that he claims was excellent. (To each his own.)

After lunch we spent the time walking around and browsing in some of the stores. There is a wide variety of art available in Port Townsend, and most very affordable. We enjoyed the Gallery 9 which had a some really beautiful paintings, jewlery, carvings, and so much more. One of my favorite peices were these cloisonne pendants, by Linda Lundell. Absolutely stunning pieces and so much work goes into each one. I'm sure they are worth every penny. We just didn't have enough pennies for them, this time.

After our nice walk around town we checked in at the Inn and had a lovely nap. Ahh the things you can do, when Grandma is baby sitting. Then we headed up to Fort Worden to walk around.

While we were there we stopped in at ArtFest which is a 4 day creative artists retreat. It was fantastic, and I wish I could afford to do it sometime.  I love all the mixed media art, that they were showing. That is just up my alley. We then drop up to the point and had a nice walk on the beach, and the old forts. It was so pretty and was just what we needed to be hungry for dinner!

Dinner at the Public House was so good. I ordered the Maple Glazed Pork Chops, with a Gorgonzola topping  and Asparagus and Potatoes. The meat was perfectly cooked, the combination of the Maple and the Gorgonzola was perfection. I would highly recommend it. The restaurant was very family friendly, with paper table clothes and crayons. There was a little boy sitting across from us that was Tesla's age and was doing all the same things that Tesla does. It was so cute! Made us miss her and remember why we don't go out to eat with her anymore.


We got back to the Inn around 8, took baths, read and slept all night. We didn't even notice the windstorm that apparently woke others up. As Jason put it, the wind was a lot quieter than our 14 month old teething, beautiful daughter.

After breakfast on Sunday we walked around the town some more. We managed to find the jar opener I have been wanting. It's by Zyliss, it's called the Strongboy 2. We own the Strongboy 1, but right after we got it, it was discontinued in the US. You see that loop at the top of the jar opener, well know it's made with a flexible meshy material, but back then it was made with something that resembled sheet metal. At the same store, Jason also bought a beautiful pair of earrings for me, for our anniversary. I'm so fortunate to have such a great husband!

When we got back to my mom's later that afternoon Tesla ran to the door, okay window to greet us. It was so cool to have her so excited to see us. She had a great time with Grandma. They went to the park, the pool and colored. I think we'll definitely have to have a repeat, but perhaps a staycation next time!

Sears pictures from Grandma's Visit

We just received the pictures from Grandma's visit back from Sears. We had intended to just get Tesla and Grandma captured but just before we left, we decided to include Jason. So if you wonder, Anne, why aren't you in them, I can answer you there was just not enough time. I would have had to do my hair, and it's a complete disaster these days so it was either get everyone else ready and out the door or me alone. Next time maybe we'll get everyone.

This dress was given to Tesla from our friends Greg and Chris for Christmas. It's so cute. I love Chris's taste in clothes. We have another hand me down from her that is velour and looks like the bag Anne from Anne of Green Gables carried with her when she went to meet the Cuthberts for the first time. I love it!

The photographer could do nothing to make Tesla not smile. I swear as soon as she said smile she was on it. Grandma and Tesla look fantastic in this picture. I think she'll be really happy to receive it!

Lastly my handsome husband joins the mix. This is really a great photo of the three of them. Next time, we'll do Pop pop, Grandma, Tesla, Papa and I. I can just envision it now.


Now on to the complaint. Sears is very tricky about their photo department. They lure you in with a package that's just 7.99 then they say well each additional sheet is 19.99 unless you don't want to do the package in which case it's just 7.99 each sheet. We ended up spending 43.00, which is not bad overall but totally annoying. Lastly, and I know they do this to everyone because I saw them do it to two other people picking up their pictures. They say, oh the lab "accidently" printed out a few more sheets. You can buy all of them for 25.00 if you want. I'm glad I saw that they did this to everyone because I think it's just sleazy. They could say hey, we have more pictures if you want to buy them. But no, they say it was an accident, even though the sheets that were printed were completely different then what we ordered, and they changed the effects on them. They are not fooling anyone!!!

But for the price they did a nice job, and we will go there again.

Grandma's Visit!

We had a wonderful visit with Grandma! She came to visit on Thursday and stayed until Monday. It was so nice to see her and spend time together. We had a busy weekend. On Friday we went to the Seattle Aquarium. It was Tesla's first time. It was so much fun to point out all the different sea animals. She enjoyed sticking her hands in the tide pools but could just barely reach. I managed to lift her up enough so that she could put her whole hand in. When she learns the meaning of gentle we'll be able to touch the different animals.

The ring of jelly fish was really interesting. The jelly fish just swam in a large plastic tube, it was like a hamster wheel for jellyfish. Tesla enjoyed  watching them but most likely just enjoyed playing on the tube. There was a super cute little boy that was just sitting on the floor next to it until Tesla came along and started trying to climb it. His mom said they'd been there for a few minutes. Way to go Tesla, make those boys jump!

Later that day we went to Pike Place Market and walked around. I managed to pick up a few new cookie cutters and Grandma bought a beautiful bouquet for just $5.00! Pays to get to the market just as they are closing!

The next day we spent with my mom to the mix, and visited Whidby Island. We had lunch at the Langley Cafe, a Mediterranean restaurant on Langleys main shopping street. It was very good. It was fun to go in all the little stores. I came away with a super cute pair of socks, but I seemed to be the only one interested in shopping that day so we left the island early. On the way home we stopped at Orvis. Orvis is one of Grandma Myra's favorite stores and she managed to find a few things that would be good additions to her wardrobe!

Sunday we went to Sears and had pictures taken. Of course the deal was for $7.99 but I managed to spend just under $50.00. We were initially going to do photos of just Grandma Myra and Tesla but then decided to add Jason into the mix and some of just Tesla. When these decisions were being made there was not enough time for me to get ready to be in the pictures too. So next time we'll get the whole family. We won't get those photo's for a couple of weeks but they turned out very well and I'll scan and post them as soon as I can.

Monday, Grandma Myra was the biggest help! She let me run errands and she stayed in the car! It was amazing!!! I ran three times as many errands as normal, just fantastic. I also went to the Fedex Kinko's and was able to get one of Tesla's posters laminated. It's a poster of Scientists for her room, which of course includes a picture of Nikola Tesla. We also had lunch at Molbak's. They have a very nice little cafe in their garden, and it's such a nice feeling. Highly recommend it.

So then Grandma left, and now Tesla sits and listens to her book that Grandma Myra recorded for her and looks around the room for her. We had such a great visit, we hope that she can return soon and spend more than a couple of days with us. Pop pop better visit too!!!

Pancakes and a walk around Seattle

So the last four days were all about cousin Sissy. She spent the night Thursday night, spent all day Friday crafting with me, then came over Saturday for the jewelry party with Ms. Jenna, and the Sunday after a pumpkin pancake breakfast finally went home, to return to school today, Monday. We had a lot of fun. Sissy also made pumpkin pancakes for us for breakfast on Sunday. This is one of my all time favorite recipes, and although she insisted that she doesn't like "spices" I made her smell each bottle and put each one in, because you follow the recipe, at least the first time! She's a pretty funny kid and totally tolerant of all the pictures I took and made her pose for!

Later that same day we took Sissy home, well kind of. My sister has sold her home and is looking to buy a new one. They have put an offer on a house and were having it inspected. It gave us an opportunity to take a look at it. It’s a lovely mossy green and built in 2003. I hope that they are all happy in it.

 

 

Later we went into Seattle. I wanted to go to a store that Jenna told me about the night before that has a lot of cheap containers. The store is a Japanese Dollar store, where everything is a $1.50. I know, I know, $1.50 is not a dollar but it’s a good way to describe it. I got some containers for my crafting/office room. Can’t wait to get organized!

We then had lunch at PF Chang’s, which I had never been to before. I would categorize the Chinese food there as being Tex-Mexy but for Asian food. Jason said that it was California Asian. Would that be Calsian?

Afterwards we went and walked around the urban park outside Westlake Center. Tesla had a fun time and I got a few good shots of her stumbling around. Now tell me that is not adorable.

Jewelry Party!!!!

Well almost two years later and we finally had our jewelry party for sissy. She has been so excited and I think she has been satisfied. Yesterday we spent the day making our jewelry boxes. I added a mirror to the interior of Sissy's so that she can use it to make sure what she puts on looks right. You know how these things are. The above picture is the first necklace Sissy made. It has a really pretty glass pink hollow bead in the middle, two stars on either side and two more beads on each side. ( I can't tell what they are at the moment, I'm to tired, it's been a very long day.)
Here's Tesla watching on as Sissy and Jenna make the jewelry.

Just before T went to bed, she played on the floor with Sissy and Papa. She sure enjoys having her cousin around. So do we!



All of Sissy's creations. With the exception of the pink feather at the top right hand corner of the table. That was a gift from Uncle J and I.

Off to bed, I've been getting up earlier to get more done, all an attempt to be more organized and efficient. Results in heavy eyelids though!

Pony Rides, cousins, crafts and jobs, Oh My!

What a busy couple of days. Not only have I been trying to still unpack and failing miserably at it, but I am also trying to institute organization into our lives. It's not easy but I figure knowing J and I that it'll never be that easy. We're naturally untidy people and have to work on it constantly, but my stress level goes up when everything is a mess so although I'm a natural at being messy, doesn't mean I should stick with it. It's kind of like your hair color, you may have to work to get your hair blond, but it's they way you like it, so it's worth it! I have been reading a blog by the name of the Lazy Organizer. I am getting a real kick out of it and am entirely inspired! Another friend has also started writing a blog about being organized and it is also inspiring. I've already adopted her filing technique and it's helping cut down the clutter quite a bit! I'm sure I'll be blogging about more of this in the future. Anyway on to the stuff you came here for, pics of Tesla and news of our little girl.

Yesterday we went to a party that was for our mom's group. There were pony rides, and a lot of fun activities. I ended up not putting Tesla on a pony ride because the line was long and lets be honest here, she can't really go on one. (She's been on one before so I know this.) But she can eat straw and look cute!

Later that same day, Sissy (Sissy is her new nickname, I'm all about having a couple of cute nicknames in the family, Auntie Bubbles knows all about this) came over. She spent the night and we watched Samantha, an American Girl Doll Movie. It was super cute, and very sappy. Sissy just really learned that word when she said, "you know the one thing about this movie is that they are always sad then happy" which I replied it is very sappy. She was delighted to use "sappy". T and Sissy also took a bath together. Sissy in her bathing suit. Tesla had a great time. Aunt Nicci, took some crazy pictures of her. Apparently she's no good at the point and shoot camera's just the fancy camera's. Oooo la la! Anyway here's one in which Tesla looks possessed. Most of them ended up like this. Oh well. I suppose I could have taken the picture.

Today, Sophie and I worked on a craft. We are making jewelry boxes, using a wooden box, paper, stamps and other items. Here's a picture of the boxes drying on the deck. We only finished the outside of the box today, tonight I will work on the inside of the box and then tomorrow Jenna is coming over to make jewelry, and Sissy is going to spend the night again! Sissy has been waiting for this jewelry making party since our wedding. Almost two years now. SHE IS SO EXCITED. She thinks Jenna is the coolest person on this earth. In fact today, she said, "you know you just said that like Jenna, I like it when you sound like Jenna, she's so cool." That's right can't believe it either. I mean I know Jenna's cool but this girl has barely spent time with her and totally fawns over her. It's totally cute. Anyway about the boxes, I'll take better pictures tomorrow, but I just wanted to show you the works in progress. The pink and blue box is Sissy's box. The brownish gold is mine, it matches our bedroom set. Anyway, while going through the supplies I was showing her these old photo's I had copied. I said, this is your great grandma and great grandpa. Here's your great great grandma and great grandma standing outside their house. She pointed to a picture and said "I want this one" it's of Auntie Bubbles when she was slightly younger. So now Auntie Bubbles will be on Sissy's jewelry box forever and one day she's going to say "who is that?" and think it's a blood relative, well that's alright by me!

We also spent a lot of the day outside walking around and playing. Tesla's playing involves walking, falling and eating things she finds on the ground. She's in two different outfits because the first time we went out the ground was still a bit damp and I like to get her out of the wet clothes when she comes in. The second dress is from Grandma. She looks super cute in it.

First time out this morning.

Later on that afternoon. Yes that is a Crocus popping up. Say hello to spring!

Spending the day with Sophie...

More pics to come just wanted to share one really quick.... back to crafting with the girls!

Portsmouth, NH

Picture of Portsmouth Taken of of Internet

We went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire today. One of my favorite places to visit. It's a very picturesque town with lots of little shops, and eateries. We went to our favorite BBQ joint called Muddy River Smokehouse. My mom had gotten us a gift certificate to it, and we wanted to use it before we moved to Seattle. We also went to a little park and had a bit of a picnic with Tesla. It was so cold though that we tried not to stay outside to long. Her little nose was as red as Rudolph's! After the park we visited a fabric store that has some of the most beautiful fabric. I bought a couple of yards of fabric to make new bibs for T, she's growing out of all of the bibs that came with outfits. We ended up home by 5, but had a lovely day walking around and visiting Portsmouth.

Tesla and Auntie Bubbles

The video does get lighter, you can hear in the beginning that I ask Jason to turn the light on. The lighting in our old apartment was just not up to par for documentary making.... I don't know how Michael Moore does it.