Damn Computers

So my blogging has kind of gone for a shit. There are many contributing factors but the largest is the fact that my computer no longer wishes to recognize my camera. At least most of the time. So this means I have to take the memory card out each time I want to download and get the pics directly off the card. If our camera didn't have to be taped shut because it was dropped within the first few weeks of us having it then that wouldn't be such a hassle. So yeah technology is getting in my way. That and the busy-ness of life. Our house is officially on the market today. With the possibility of people coming to see the place I should have been more motivated to get stuff done today but in the end I wasn't. We are packing books and trying to declutter. I need to find a new source of boxes. All in all I think it is going pretty well.

Here are some candid kid shots. They are pre-dinner. The daughter wasn't feeling up to much. Thus the hide behind the apron.The son was being helpful moving a chair back from his room (fort building) so that we could use it for dinner. Is it just me or does he look way older than he should.So this evenings dinner. Don't try to kid me I know that is what you're really here for. Well I don't plan to send you home disappointed. It was chirashi sushi, coleslaw and shake and bake chicken. Followed by dessert. Man my wife does a great job of looking after us. Huge props to the lady in my life.Why the big dinner you ask? Well we had a second birthday dinner for the littlest one today. Originally we planned to celebrate with some friends but they had something come up and we had some semi-sickies here so it didn't work out for having people over. Just meant more for us in the end. And in the more for us department the middle child managed a new record for chicken drumsticks. Seven. If the youngest ever develops a taste for human food we might be in trouble. Below is the second candle opportunity. The cake was a store bought angel food covered with whipped cream and blueberries. Very nice. The video is of the actual candle blowing out ceremony. Notice why flames and babies don't mix.

Well that is all to report from here. With one day of regular Olympics to go, I am sad, satisfied and kind of looking forward to spending less time in front of the computer. Hope all you Vancouverites have gotten your fix. Love ya.

Meaty Goodness.

Well the great meals just keep on coming. You will remember our friends the soup and coleslaw from last nights dinner. Today's new comer was some fried up ground beef with assorted veggies. This was generously heaped over a bowl of rice and then quickly devoured. I am now working on some chips and salsa and may make a snack run as I get up for some evening work. Almost at the weekend. Tank is almost dry. Must soldier on.

Hey, its Tofu-esday

That is what I just said to my wife as I sat down to write this blog. Man is she ever on the ball. I of course did not notice the connection between dinner and day until just now. It was a busy evening so I was not involved in the sauce or the cooking. However, I did get my share of the eatin done. The purple cabbage colelslaw came up to its usual standard but I have to give highest praise to the soup. It was a turnip and squash soup. It started with some sauteed mushrooms and onions and grew from there. There were a few small chunks on turnip and some corn nibblets but mostly it was just thick bisquey goodness.

Well here at hump day I am looking forward to getting through the back end of this week and on to the weekend where the real work awaits.

We train 'em young.

A trip to the library today managed to snag us some childrens cook books. The daughter wanted to do her part and make some dinner. I thought to myself, "This could be good, this could be real good."

Tonight's dinner was quick skillet lasagna from Canadian Living Best: Kids in the Kitchen Book. We added a few of our own flairs but basically Iread and she chopped, sprinkled and stirred.
Now there is a delicious smile to go with some chopped mushroom.Mmmm, fried garlic and ground beef. We didn't forget the basil.Here is what it all looked like before she stirred in the cooked pasta spirals and layered on the cheeseThe maestro with her masterpiece. She was pretty proud with the meal she made. We all were and of coursethe real question, how did it taste? I loved it. Everone else gobbled theirs up too. With the wife's coleslaw also on tap it was a great meal. And all I had to do was read.

Evening Stroll

So before the after dinner stroll and after the countless games of candyland we ate dinner. We had barbecued pork chops (filled the propane and washed the car at the same time) with coleslaw and rice. You will notice that though my plate is full it is also a mess. That is because I did the hacking for the kids and wife (she was holding the littlest) before I sat down to eat. No don't cry for me Argentina, I ate well.After dinner we took a stroll to the local elementary school. It had cooled off sufficiently to be nice outside. Notice the wife is smiling. A real candid moment.The kids did a bunch of climbing and chasing. Some of which I was involved in.
There was also some showing off. But not in a bad way.
Then I got them all to pose for me and amazingly they pulled it off. Shocker.My cup runneth over.

BBq is Back

Well we whipped up some bbq chicken for this evenings dinner. It was going to be shake and bake but turning on the oven that would have been madness, 33 degrees here today, 91 for our American readers. Funnily enough we were actually baking bread so I had to go outside and use the last of the gas. Note to self. Get more propane.
The chicken was good, the bread was out of this world, hot and slathered with butter. Boiled peas and corn with some leftover coleslaw and it was real barbecue here tonight. Day four of schedule madness was not quite as tight as it could have been but we have high hopes for tomorrow. Lots of bday party planning and cake making to get done. Note to self, keep camera handy.

Here are some more bread shots. This should last us two weeks.

Summah

Waddling home with the three kids today it was hot. Like warm breeze in the face looking for shady spots to walk in hot. The thermometer was only at 27 but with the sun smothering us from above it felt way hotter. The reason I was walking home with all three was that the Mrs. had left them with me. We met at the elementary school and she took off for her run while I head home with the gang. Everything went smoothly until I woke on the living room floor to start of a "pick me up please" cry. However, mom was already back and catching a quick shower so I was not forced to provide a feed.
I was required to provide some feed for the other folk. This evening that came in the form of some barbecue chicken. Now that says summer. The kids actually ate outside. The grown ups enjoyed the more refined (this is a questionable claim) environs of our dining room. I hope you note the healthy spinach dip from yesterday. Also the last of the watermelon. Man is watermelon ever good. On the plate with the chicken you can also see some garlic pan fried green beans with the last of the red cabbage coleslaw. The plate at the top is not my salad. It was a communal veggie dipping plate.

So now that I am once again stuffed it is time to brush some teeth and watch bugsy malone. Hitting some nostalgic notes this week. Hope the kids like it.

Crunchy Noodles.

And that is the way they are supposed to be. We had Sara-Udon this evening. Recently I read through the list of dinners from the last year or so. Some great dishes we just don't get back to that much. Sara-Udon is one of those dishes. This evening it was a pork, bok choy and broccoli sauce that was slathered over a nest of crispy noodles. It was opined by my better half that it needed some more salt. I was quite satisfied with its mild flavour. Plus the tang of the coleslaw was that much sharper. The coleslaw was from last nights dinner. That was the dinner I didn't make it home for. It was the curry I made two nights ago. I enjoyed having it for lunch today. Lastly, here is the picture of the new boy. He has started making non crying noises. At dinner this evening his mother asked him if he wanted some breast milk. While we all listened he seemed to squeeze out a "eeeyah" It could have been a "yeah." Once again I have to ask, "genius? possibly"

Just in time for Lunch

Well I didn't manage to get a picture of dinner pre-feast so instead I got a picture of the lunches for people going to school tomorrow. We had nimono or boiled veggies and chicken. We also had the wife's amazing coleslaw. As I said after dinner, "if we ever open the bakery we will serve sandwiches for lunch and your coleslaw will be the side of choice." I mean I love this coleslaw. The nimono was also good as we haven't had it for a long time. Good warm food for a cold almost spring day.
Here is a picture of one chubby baby. He is feeding a lot and really piling on the weight. He was so fussy today while the wife ate dinner. I just couldn't do anything to calm him down. We think he has realised what is going on when people are eating. He wants some of the action. I can understand that feeling.

Uninvited Guests

Yeah strange night. First I arrive home to this colourful snowman standing in my kitchen. I was like, "hey, I don't even know you what are you doing in my kitchen?" And the snowman was like, "its me dad." And I am like, "Neither I nor my wife have ever been part of any birth that involved a snow person of any size or gender or lack of gender." And the snowman said, "its me" and proceeded to rip its face off. Of course imagine my surprise when my daughter was behind the whole charade. It turns out she had made this snowman mask at school. Is this the Julliard School of Mask making. I mean come on. Its Thursday afternoon. Give a guy a break.
Next up was the wife who started off with a, "sorry this is all there is for dinner." Then she broke into some story about how she had tried this lentil, tomato dish at the family centre near here and had decided to whip some up for dinner. This on top of the homemade humus and garlic bread made from a lovely baguette (most likely whole wheat) from the local bakery where she used to work. To top this off she made some more of her impossibly delicious coleslaw. I got the low down on the slaw this evening. She uses organic cabbage, which couldn't even spell bitter. Not that cabbages are noted for their spelling chops. Actually she admitted all the veggies were from the grocery store with the nice local and interesting organic vegetables section. She also admitted to a little mayonnaise which of course bumps up the creaminess. Best bite of the night: bread slathered with humus and then piled with coleslaw. Wicked, wicked awesome. And vegetarian, meaning tomorrow will be an even better day. Something about the day after eating vegetarian. Everything just seems better. There may be something to this. Time will tell.

Weird day though. All these people telling me strange things. "I'm not a snowman" , "Sorry about dinner". A guy could get confused, Jeesh.

Don't tell the kids.

There were bananas in the"almost curry stir fry" this evening. The wife was a little apprehensive about serving up this evenings dinner. She felt like she had been caught between two meals. A nice chicken curry on the one hand and a chicken stir fry on the other. Did I mention there were bananas in it. Well in the end it was delicious and without the information they didn't need the kids gobbled it up. Coleslaw came along for the ride and had just the right amount of creaminess for me. You may noticed I topped mine with some pickled peppers. Just a little more heat for the dad.

The kids asked me to take this one after snapping the one of dinner. I had to remind the son to smile.

On a different note, we are having a bit of a rough patch with the daughter and her school lunches. The thing is the wife tries to pack just the right amount of lunch. Not too much but a little bit of everything. Then the lunch comes home less than half eaten and the daughter is whining for a snack. How hard to we want to play hardball? Are feeling is that she is too interested in going to play and because she is kind of a slow eater she can't get through her lunch in time and just puts it back. What to do what to do? We have already talked to her teachers once about this and I don't want to be a pest. Maybe we should start serving her her lunch for dinner if she doesn't finish it. Or we could hang her upside down by her ankles and force feed her. Or maybe we should just not take it too seriously and let her eat when she's hungry. I wonder what the super nanny would do?

Happy Obama Day.

And so it begins.

As for me, with four weeks or so to go till b-day I had a chat with the person that will be replacing me while I'm off on parenthood leave for 5 - 7 weeks. I am pretty happy about that. With the other kids being born at the beginning of the summer vacation it has never been an issue before. However, this time we are having a winter baby. Should be interesting.

For dinner this evening we had turkey a la king made with some of the frozen Christmas turkey leftovers. It was really good. The wife mentioned she thought that was the organic turkey goodness coming through. I tend to think it was the fabulous job I did of brining and cooking it but hey its not a competition. Good turkey, happy people, bottom line. The coleslaw salad also made a nice reappearance after being gone for a while. Once again the organic cabbage the wife bought didn't have any of the usual "nigami" or bitterness. It was a really sweet coleslaw both in the taste sense and the damn thats good coleslaw sense. Looking forward to lunch tomorrow.

Its about dessert.

Well we were once again treated to an amazing feast at our house. There was a shepherd's pie with a twist. Instead of mashed potatoes there were scalloped potatoes on top. It was a good November meal. The bread down front was a garlic number. Just the right amount and it could be covered in shepherds pie. Double goodness. Sitting to the right of the meal was some coleslaw made with apples. I remember rebelling against apples and raisons in my salad as a kid. However, if your perservere you can get there. My daughter actually picked out a piece of apple specially and said, "apple, yum." She has also gotten in the mushroom one up man ship and wouldn't let her brother have her mushrooms tonight. He was quite put out but she wanted to eat them. It didn't really matter as you will see next.

I had told the kids about the ice cream the last time I went into the store for some mint chocolate chip. They couldn't believe I had bought the candy cane/chocolate crunch ice cream. I plan to go and have me a bowl right now. Mmmmm good.

2 for the price of one.

Well as I was out at a meeting last night I did not have the opportunity to get in on the pork chop fest. The boarder who has had our dinners recently wanted to do his part and came up with a bunch of fast fry pork chops. This is manna from heaven for the son. That along with some coleslaw salad and it looks like I missed out on a nice evening. I managed to get the curried chick peas and spinach in my lunch today and have to say I would have loved to try it hot at my table. I had pizza with veggies and dip at the meeting. Not bad but not the same as eating with the fam.

This evening I managed to get a run in with the boys and we all came back to the homestead for a beer. One of them had to go home to eat dinner but the boarder joined us for an amazing beef stew. Anyone who has had a bowl of Tony's beef barley soup would have thought they were living in West Van again. It was amazing. A start time of 9:30 let this cook all day and by 6:00 the beef was falling apart good and the flavours had totally blended. Filling out the dance card were onions, garlic, carrots, tomatoes and beets. It was seasoned with red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, bay leaves and parsley. It rocked. The wife just mentioned that if we had had an open bottle of red wine she would have added that instead of the vinegar. It still rocked. The meal was rounded out with two salads. The boarder's chicken breasts were fried up and served over a green salad and last nights coleslaw was re-mealed. Some homemade bread was grilled after being slathered with margarine and crushed garlic. This extraordinary Thursday nighter was capped with a serving of super healthy browny and mint chocolate chip ice cream. My eyes are currently only a third of the way open and the head is drooping visibly. Too bad that work is calling my name this evening. Perhaps a cup of coffee is in the offing. One more day this week. Fridays, what is the deal with that.

Then there was Tuesday

So last night I was not able to get to the blog either. I was able to make it to dinner and once again I was in luck. We had spaghetti with meat sauce. Fresh tomatoes were used sparingly and I felt there could have been much more splashed around in the pot. However, the flavour was awesome. The garlic bread never materialized. The wife gave the old, "oh the garlic bread!" during dinner but none of us were fooled by her subtle ruse. We were also not fooled by her not so subtle coleslaw. An action packed whamo of vinegar and a majority of greens lead to an interesting variation. I have become quite accustomed to her creamy slaw. This was more along the lines of a KFC slaw, infinitely better but along those lines. Lets hear it for variety. There were also some pickled eggplant which was also quick action packed taste wise. A step out for the wife or are the fickle taste buds having some affect. Have to wait and see on that one.

Speaking of something new today was the son's first day at Pre-school. Apparently he was a little hesitant at the door when mom was leaving but she fired the old, "your friend Matthew is here so it will be alright." and he bought it. He went off to play and the wife went off to get on with her afternoon. He did manage to have an accident at school so we are hoping that is not repeated on Thursday or our claims of having him toilet trained will come into question. I hate being questioned, on anything. So fingers are crossed.

Sorry this and the last post are out of order. I am chronologically challenged unlike some of my sisters.

Good day.

Yes this was the day when I had excess under control. Did my yoga before lunch. Had a reasonable dinner and then played ultimate in the sun. We had a quick go at dinner as we had to ge to the pitch by 6:30. The salmon was pan fried with garlic, salt and pepper. Can you really go wrong with salmon. I put the big wok lid over it to get the juicy steamed fish feel. So good. Rice and coleslaw were back from last nights dinner. Or was it the night before. With two working days left my mind is actually shutting down. I am trying to remember what else was on my plate as the picture loads... oh here it is. The veggies from the lunch left over veggie platter. A nice accompaniment to a light meal. I am out for dinner tomorrow (colleagues retirement get together) but I have my fingers crossed a picture will be taken of the pork chops.

So this line came to me in the esprit du lescalier. "Thanks for the guilt trip. I haven't been on one for a while." You know when someone just loads it on you. From now on, if I am keen enough to react I plan on using this line. I mean what the hell. Do I really need someone else pushing my guilt buttons. Grow up and run your own life but leave my shit alone. I will make my own decisions and live with them. This was a work issue and I am trying to let it go. Deep breath in, pause, deep breath out. Time for bed.

Don't get the wrong impression

We really don't eat smokies at every other meal. We just had left overs and couldn't muster the strength to think of something more creative. We did barbecue some eggplant, no sauce, no oil, just straight dry barbecue. Afterwards we drizzled a little soy sauce on them and it was very nice. Quite Japanese tasting if you ask me. The coleslaw has made it from Giant bowl to a small bowl to a large sized tupperware and I think we are now into a small sized tupperware. Eventually it will be eaten and another giant bowl will be made for some festivity or another. The rice was cooked with peas and curry powder and was a nice change.

On a totally different note I am boycotting UPS at least until I order something else off the internet. The loot bags I sourced from some novelty place in the states had an original shipping fee of 18 dollars. Rather steep on a 26 dollar purchase but it still was within budget, had all the things I wanted and meant neither my wife nor I had to go searching for the stuff. However, when UPS left their little note today saying there as a 21 dollar brokerage fee -- $3.43 in taxes, the rest for doing the work -- i lost it. Talking with the novelty company on line they were unrepentant, "it says it in many places on our website" what is says is that there will be some duty, taxes or brokerage fees. No mention that UPS will stick their greasy mitt deep into your wallet and double their fee. The UPS lady was slightly more sympathetic though completely unapologetic. To top it off I was calling to arrange a better drop off time tomorrow, as no one is home when they plan to come by, and the service agent replies, "well I can't guarantee a drop off time as they will be there when they get there on their route." Service. Sometimes you get it. Sometimes it gets you. This kid better have one wicked ass time at her Birthday. My luck they will all end up playing with the boxes and I will be left with 13 x 7 novelty items and 13 bags to put them in. Should have left it all up to the wife. Saving money never felt so good.

Farewell Reiko

We had a farewell dinner for a student that had been studying in Grand Forks for the last three years. She is Japanese and had come to our house quite a few times in those years for dinner or to babysit. She finally graduated and this was her farewell dinner. We actually had six adults and three kids for dinner so it was a fairly elaborate production. Burgers were the main attraction with me only realizing as I was flipping them that one of our guests was a vegetarian. To my wifes credit she has put together two salads, two types of french fries and enough vegetable toppings that the veggie guest had a veggie sandwich and seemed satisfied. One of the salads was the lettuce and mandarin affair that I learned about at my previous school. It is always nice. The coleslaw made a come back, second day is always better. Yam and potato french fries, baked not fried. There was also carrot cake with lemon flavoured cream cheese icing. My first piece was a little healthy but the second and third pieces were delicious. None of the pieces were overly large so I can say that I ate quite conservatively this evening. One burger, one helping of fries. Seconds was only salad. I did drink a beer but only one and I had a whole bunch of water. There was 7.3 k of running before dinner so I think my scales are balanced this evening. Four work days till summer. Gotta keep my eyes on the road.

Sunday Night Fever

This is what that warm bloated post pizza dinner feeling should be called. Man I ate too much. Don't tell my sister but we finally had the artichokes on some pizza. Fabulous. I also wrested the pizza stone out of the now defunct pizza oven. In the big oven it worked like a charm. We even used the pizza peal and everything. If it weren't for the amount of power the big oven draws I would stay with this set up but I think we are going to try and find another little pizza oven. I actually saw a wood fired pizza oven that someone I know made. It looked pretty cool. Some day, some day. Anyways, back to dinner. The first pizza was a kids but it wasn't ham and pineapple. It was plain pepperoni. They enjoyed it. Phew. Now there are two kids pizza options. Hawaiian and Pepperoni. As for the adults we have the spicy salami, with mushrooms and artichokes first and all the same ingredients but with red peppers added in the second. The sauce was good but a little oily. The crust was perfect. Topped off with some coleslaw and chips with guacamole (one bowl with tomato chunks the other with diced jalapenos). Our guest enjoyed the dinner and had four or more slices of pizza. That is the kind of eatin I look for in a guest. It makes me feel less self conscious when I eat the silver ware. Really is there any reason to be this full. I think I need to be more fully aware of what I am eating as I eat it. Conspicuous consumption. Let the finger point at me. Well I'll worry more about that tomorrow. Until then I am yawning up a storm. Have a good one.

Saturday, June 14th

Just about a perfect day. We set up the tent trailer in the back yard this morning. The kids spent all day in and out of it. After that I spent three hours, thirty dollars, 15 curse words and lots of sweat to change the washers in 4 faucet handles. No more drips down stairs. Yeah. I also now own a brand new crescent wrench which still couldn't solve my problem. The ultimate solution was locking pliers and a hammer. Sure the piece is stripped but at least I could get it off. After that our daughters friend and his dad came over to enjoy a barbecue with us. They brought burgers, we had smokys and everyone had baked potatoes and coleslaw. Sitting outside in the shade of the camper we had a lovely evening. Then I made a fire and we roasted marshmallows. Smores were made as well but the kids seemed more into just eating the squishy insides of their burnt marshmallows and then tossing the burnt skins into the fire. After our friends went home we spent this night sleeping outside in our tent trailer. No complaints here.