Assorted

Well that is what we had this evening. We finished off a couple of leftovers and I finally made the shrimp dish. Huge gap between my expectations and how things finally turned out. I just remember making it the last time and being totally impressed with myself (it happens more than you would think and considering my audience you get some idea of the frequency I'm talking about). Perhaps it was the lack of zest from the rest of the meal. The shrimp was still pleasant and the kids polished it off (now I'm looking for tomorrow's lunch idea) so I can't be that down. I think it was the anticipating the making of it for the last three days which was the problem. Anyways we have a new menu for this week and the shopping is alldone so thatshould bode well. Tomorrow is another Monday so its time to get in gear.

Show Time

Well it was show time today. After a busy week of practices and dress rehearsals today was the day. And it went swimmingly. I think by the time the evening show rolled around she was a little pooped so her performance was slightly off. However the video you see here is the afternoon show and she was awesome. In chatting with her friends at the show she learned that there are skating competitions that one can win. She seemed intrigued with the idea. I wonder what next year will bring. The daughter is the jelly fish in pink just to the right of Ariel.

As for dinner we had some left over potatoes au gratin that I had made for lunch with some turkey soup that I whipped up this afternoon. I promise the shrimp dish is on the way. You will just have to give me another day or two to actually get it on the table.
Here are some new shots of the kid. He is plumping up nicely and will actually sleep in your arms for a little while if he is in the right frame of mind.

Change of Plans

So originally this evening was supposed to be ebi-chiri. This is a Japanese stir fried shrimp dish. However, after hitting up the bakery for some loaves and coming away with a lovely baguette I moved up tomorrow nights spaghetti to tonight to make use of the fresh baguette. The sauce included some of the wife's pre-made meatballs. Such a good idea. When she makes a batch of something that is slightly tedious she makes a big batch and freezes at least half. Then she has instant meatballs/gyoza/spring rolls ready to go instead of doing the whole from scratch thing again. The Mrs. gets high marks in the smarts department. The salad was the baby mixed greens in a box with grated carrot and diced cucumber. Still loving the salad dressing we got the other day with the dinner. After dinner we went for the family swim night. Boy, that boy did not want to leave the pool at the end of an hour.

We came home and watched the Spiderwick Chronicles. Much like the Bridge to Terabithia it seems like we may need to get the book.

Below is a foot picture. And the wifes feet aint that big to begin with.

Its ocean faring.

Well here is our little jelly fish ready for her first ice show dress rehearsal. No she is not a mermaid like all her classmates who have been in skating for more than 3 months. Yes she is disappointed about this. However, she is a wicked awesome jelly fish. Video will be shot on Friday. I am working on finding the best vantage point.
As for dinner I started pressing the tofu just after lunch. With most of the moisture gone I then set it in the peanut style sauce to soak up the goodness. Sauce: Peanut butter, vinegar, cooking wine, fresh grated ginger, salt, pepper, soy sauce and honey. Post rehearsal, which by the way took forever, we zipped home chopped up some veggies and got our stir fry on. I was very happy with the result and as usual the kids chowed down on the tofu.

Here are some pictures of the newest. One is a comparison shot of finger sizes, mine and his. The other is a comparison of head sizes/cuteness. I think I hold my own thank you.

Shake and Bake

I just love getting all that stuff in the bag and then going maracas crazy. So that is what we did this evening. Bread crumbs salt, pepper, oregano, and cumin were my eleven herbs and spices. It tasted great and the kids both put away three drums a piece. I have to say that as proud as I am of the chicken I think i took the soup to another level. It was inhuman, she meowed. Sweet potato, celery, and radish soup. My stock consisted of browned onions and mushrooms, dill, curry powder, chili pepper, salt and pepper. I added a cup or so of milk at the end and everyone loved it. The daughter finished a whole bowl even though it was spicy. Brought a tear to my eye. The rice was just rice.This is evidence that I shouldn't leave the camera on my desk. The little butt head goes to town taking random pictures when I am not watching. Oh he is a stealthy one. But great at the same time. Got some advice today about some other kid picture possibilities. I am looking into it,

Too Hungry

So here is the required kid shot. I have noticed that there is already too much repetition in these pictures. That said there isn't all that much the kid can do yet so my range is limited. I have to get the wife to sit in a different chair, the couch perhaps. Anyways there you go.

Dinner was quite lovely this evening. After planning out the Mon-Fri meals the son and I went shopping today during our round of errands. The ingredients for this evenings meal were pork chops, potatoes, broccoli and carrots. I broiled the chops in the oven after sprinkling with salt, pepper, and some garlic powder. The potatoes were mashed with butter, milk, salt, pepper and green onions. The broccoli and carrots were steamed in the microwave and served as is. It was a lovely meal and I managed to whip the whole thing up and get it served in under half an hour. However, I was so hungry by that point I forgot to get a picture of the nicely set up plate. Instead you see the pot of mashed potatoes, the almost finished off chops and the empty bowl of broccoli and carrots. The daughter had seconds and then was hungry again before bed time. How do you spell growth spurt?


Okay the arrangement is definitely lacking in finesse. I'll work on it.

Take In

So we had our evening meal brought in for us tonight. A good friend decided to give us a hand and came through with a whole meal. It was delicious and we were very grateful.

The salad was a lovely mix of reds and greens. Radishes, cucumbers, with various types of leafys. The pasta sauce was both sweeter and tangier (more tangy, not the city) than what we usually make. The kids couldn't stop eating it. The also chowed down on the garlic bread. The topper was some real fruit gummy rabbits for dessert. It will be tough to make dinner to this standard all week. I think I should just dish up some garbage tomorrow to bring everyone back to earth.
This is a picture of my physical desktop. Incredibly there is not a single piece of paper on it. More than a year I have been waiting to get it to this point. It helped that I did my taxes and a bunch of other paperwork today. The final piece of paperwork is the medical receipts we have collected over the last 6 months. Its free money so I just need to get that done and in the mail.

It has been noted that there wasn't a new baby picture last night. I am just trying to break my readers gently into the reality that there won't always be a new picture every night. However, tonight I have two. The first is just a nice picture and the second demonstrates how shockingly large this kids hands are. Okay it might be a perspective thing but I still think we should have that checked. Coincidentally the kid had the one week check today and everything is going well. Weight is up over birth weight. Everything else is good. Here we go with week two of Mr. Mom. Only four weeks left.