A Birthday, Glasses and Narnia

So much has happened since my last post. Firstly, my Samantha is now seven. I can hardly believe that seven years has gone by since she came in to our lives. Samantha continues to grow like a bean pole and she possesses a sense of humor that can only be described as silly. Her energy is still comparable to the Energizer Bunny and I see no sign that this will change. My birthday wish for her is that she will always remain young at heart, authentic, caring, inquisitive, strong and beautiful {inside and out}. Now that she's seven I do hope that she finds the strength to be patient. Wishful thinking on my part for sure. Sammy is eager to master everything she takes on expecting nothing but success at every turn. Patience my love. Patience.

We celebrated Sammy’s birthday at Sky High Sports in Bellevue. Have you been there? If you haven’t, you must. I can honestly say that both children and adults enjoyed the trampolines. The Dodgeball court was awesome. I thought I could hold my own until I got blasted in the shoulder by my friend Bill. I totally did not expect to go out like that but once I found myself on my backside, I knew it was time to hit the sidelines. I’m ready for a re-match.

Secondly, little Alejandra has had an amazing summer. Several weeks ago I told you that she would be undergoing a surgical procedure to correct the shape of her ears, well the surgery went amazingly well. The Otolaryngology surgeon was true to her word and did everything within her power to ensure a successful outcome. I’m sure any expert will tell you that it must have taken incredible skill and precision to master a surgery such as this one. I am eternally grateful, yet again, for Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. Alex’s ears are beautiful and her new glasses fit perfectly.

 

Thirdly, speaking of glasses, I learned last week that I’ll need to wear Bifocals. Trust me, like you, I was mortified just envisioning myself wearing the frames with the thin horizontal line across the bottoms. First the gray hair and now, bifocals . . . all I need now is a shawl and a bum hip to finish the transformation. My optometrist was quick to put my mind at ease. She explained that the new lenses will look exactly like the pair I’m currently wearing and that means, no lines. Hallelujah! I was prepared to live out the rest of my life squinting at blurry images just to avoid wearing hideous bifocals and now I don’t have to. What a relief.

Lastly, I’m reading The Chronicles of Narnia to Samantha and she loves it. She gobbles up every word and nothing seems to satisfy her quench for more so she pleads with me to read more. I’ll admit that I, too, am anxious to read more. . . the story is: magical, exhilarating, emotional, imaginative, surreal, thought provoking, poetic and offers life lessons that I’m sure will hold a place in Samantha’s heart and mind for years to come. I’m reading the books in the order in which they were published and as the author, C.S. Lewis intended. The newer publications have the stories rearranged so that they read chronologically, but I rather like the flash forwards/backs as I think it keeps the stories more interesting. More importantly, I can’t see delving into the series without first starting with, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at the front of the pack. Here are the two orders:

The publishing order is:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician’s Nephew
The Last Battle

And the chronological order is:
The Magician’s Nephew
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

Autumn is near and what better time of year to curl up with a good book or two, or three. . .

Red Velvet Birthday Cake

When Sam Sam told me that she wanted a Red Velvet birthday cake I was happily surprised. I thought for sure she’d say chocolate, which don’t get me wrong, I heart chocolate cake, but it just seems like I make them all the time. Red Velvet, now there’s something new and exciting. My husband asked me, “What exactly is Red Velvet?” I told him it was cocoa flavor. Then he said, matter of fact, “So chocolate then.” I responded with an incredulous, “No. Not chocolate. Cocoa.” We went back and forth on the matter until I acquiesced and said, “I suppose maybe a subtle taste of chocolate.” For goodness sakes--it’s Red Velvet. It taste like Red Velvet. BLARGH!!!

I’ve never made a Red Velvet anything and I had no clue where to start and had to turn to my favorite food blogs for guidance. I found a delectable Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcake over at Lick The Bowl Good and decided it was too grown-up for a seven year old. At First Look Then Cook I found a Red Velvet Cupcake recipe which was exactly what I was looking for. The recipe says to bake for 20 minutes but the cake took 40 minutes. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. For recipe, go {here}.

I feel like I went against my own rule by using a popular toy for the theme but it's my own darn fault. I wanted to do a skateboard cake and honestly just didn't know how to do it. The cake ended up looking like a wedding cake with the three layers, white frosting and white piping and I needed something to make it look age appropriate. This morning, a few hours before the party, I asked Sammy to bring me a few of her Littlest Pet Shop toys to create the skateboard theme. I think it turned out pretty well considering it was done in a pinch.

Sunriver

Let me start by telling you that it is darn stifling hot in our home this evening. Temperatures were in the 90’s today which is why I’m coming to you from my backyard patio where it is cool and comfortable. Thank goodness for laptop computers eh?

Yesterday we arrived home from our trip to Central Oregon’s Sunriver Resort where we spent seven full days basking in the beautiful wood along the Deschutes River. This trip was a refreshing departure from our usual jaunt to the coast where normally we spend our time in the surf of the salty Pacific Ocean. Not this time. No sir. Not this time. Instead we traveled to the high dessert where we biked, canoed, swam, skateboarded, made S’mores, ate ice-cream, marveled at deer, chipmunks, prairie dogs, owls, bats, hawks and so much more.

The trek to Sunriver was time consuming and my only hope as we began our journey was that the girls brought enough toys, coloring books and stories to keep them busy for the duration. We bought them neck pillows for when they felt the need to dose off and quickly learned that those neck pillows are mostly cute and not at all functional. We brought snacks and plenty of junk food to tide us over. The long drive ended up being relatively painless . . . save for the one time we ended up in an area beneath the canyons where there were no bathrooms for miles. We ended up pulling over where Alex had to crouch down behind what looked like a tumbleweed to take care of her business. After that, we hauled arse to our destination.

While on the long winding road, when the coloring books lost their appeal, I kept the girls occupied by reading them The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. What an exhilarating tale. Then, when the girls decided to play on their own, I kept myself busy with this month’s issues of Vogue and In Style magazines. I also brought along Martha Stewart Living which I gotta say, I didn’t much care for. Stewart by all accounts is a fascinating woman but her magazine made me feel like I wanted nothing more to do with her. Anyways, I digress. On a positive note, I read The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson which is the second book in the trilogy {I had already read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo the week prior}. Talk about exhilarating. Goodness me. Now I just need to get my hands on the third and final book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. I’m completely hooked.

When we arrived at our vacation destination we were pleasantly surprised to find that all we’d heard and read about were spot on. This place did not disappoint. The only downer, we would only be staying one week. Darn.

There are paved bike paths all over Sunriver. There are no steep hills or treacherous areas to bike along so kids and adults can enjoy the ride. We however opted to ride our longboards and Rollerblades along the paths when a very nice officer friendly came along, on bike no less, to inform us that the paths were strictly for feet and bikes ONLY. No skateboards, Rollerblades or scooters allowed. Dagnabit!!! Lucky for us the house we rented was on a cul-de-sac where we were able to ride our boards, skates and scooters without The Man spoiling our fun.

There are two pools in Sunriver -- North Pool and South Pool. We loved the South Pool with it's large water slide and open waters. My girls are happiest when wet as you can plainly see.

We took a minor detour from our fun in Sunriver to visit The Longboard Store located in Bend, Oregon. Here Sammy had her pick of hundreds of skateboards. Sammy has been asking for a skateboard for her birthday so where better than The Longboard Store, a skateboard distributor, to find the perfect one.

Jon decided he needed a new board too. Hence there are two skateboards at checkout. Jon opted for the longboard and Sammy, the mini.

I think it's funny that she caressed her board with such tenderness. HA!

Alex was feeling a wee left out and decided to pout.

Then we canoed. It was absolutely luxurious paddling down the quiet river. At least it was as luxurious as could be with two small children dangling this way and that causing the boat to list to one side and then the next.

Yum. S'mores.

Jon peeping at Saturn at the Observatory.

I have to confess that Saturn with the perfect rings looked fake through the telescope. I mean, I know it was real, it just looked so unbelievable that I almost felt it was staged. Same with Venus and Mars too. Unreal.

Sundress, sandals and skateboard. Okay then.

Rollerblading in style.

We had an excellent adventure in Sunriver. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Even though our trip wasn't as long as I would have liked . . . I am glad to be home.

Sometime this week I'll tell you about the Lemonade stand the girls setup today where they earned a nice chunk of change for themselves.

A Trip To The Walk-in Clinic And A Recipe

Hello Friends. I've been very busy and have not had much time for blogging. 

The other day I was feeling icky and then the ickiness turned to feeling yucky, and then the yuckiness turned to feeling like I needed to see a doctor. My doctor's office was booked solid so my husband ended up taking me to an urgent care center {A.K.A. walk-in clinic}. Turns out, I was dehydrated, stressed, not sleeping and lacked vitamin B-12. To top it off, doctor found a mild heart murmur. Nice.

Anyways, I'm all better now. I'm drinking water, sleeping, taking a daily vitamin and overall trying to stay stress free.

For starters, I turned to my kitchen to relax in the comforts of sugar and butter. Just pressing the buttons and hearing the soft beeps signally that the oven was pre-heating instantly made me feel more at ease. Add to that, the soothing low hum of the mixer churning calmed my nerves. My senses went into overload as the smell of brown sugar engulfed my entire home.  And even though mixing bowls and spatulas were strewn about, there remained a sense of order that I found satisfying. Yes, there's something about baking that inspires me to smile.

To further de-stress, I've been focusing my attention on my upcoming vacation. I can't wait to get a move on. I'm ready to take in the long stretches of highway with music blaring and hopefully kids smiling and quiet in the backseat. One can only hope.

So, if you're feeling stressed and want something cheerful to focus your attention, try this recipe. And if you don't have fun making them, at least you'll have fun eating them. Cheers. I'll be back in a few weeks.

Toffee Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies

Recipe from: The All American Cookie Book

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

Scant 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened

2 1/2 tbsp corn oil or other flavorless vegetable oil

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tsps vanilla

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1/2 cup Heath bar or other milk chocolate toffee bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease several baking sheets or coat with nonstick spray {I use a Silpat}.

In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on low, then medium, speed, beat together the butter, oil, and brown sugars until well blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well blended. Beat or stir in the flour mixture until evenly incorporated. Stir in the chocolate morsels and toffee bits until evenly incorporated.

Drop the dough onto the baking sheets using a 1/8-cup measure or coffee scoop, spacing about 2 1/2 inches apart; keep the portions as round as possible. With oiled fingers, pat down the cookies slightly.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until tinged with brown, slightly darker at the edges, and almost firm when pressed in the centers. Once out of the oven, transfer the sheet to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack and let stand until cooled completely.