Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Halloween
Devera started the evening a little freaked out by the whole Halloween thing. She definitely didn't want to go outside, that was for sure. But after we told her that we were going to the neighbors house and that the dog would be there she was ok. She liked seeing the next door neighbor and didn't have any problem reaching for the candy. However, she had to have Toby hold her up the whole time. After about 4 or 5 houses she was starting to get more comfortable. She finally decided to walk around herself a little but was still pretty shy. It was pretty fun to hear her say "Happy Halloween" as we left one of the houses. Something tells me she'll be a lot more into it next year. Given where we started the evening we chalked it up as a success....with this parenting thing you just take what you can get.
One other funny note - - yesterday was my birthday and we celebrated with these super tasty cupcakes from a local bakery. Devera's cupcake had a giant spider made of frosting on top. After she ate the spider off of the top of the cupcake she said, "More Spiders Please"....that made me laugh!
One other funny note - - yesterday was my birthday and we celebrated with these super tasty cupcakes from a local bakery. Devera's cupcake had a giant spider made of frosting on top. After she ate the spider off of the top of the cupcake she said, "More Spiders Please"....that made me laugh!
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Pumpkin Carving
Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Tonight we carved pumpkins (well, actually Devera painted hers). Toby got her these neat paints that go right on the pumpkin. Devera made a huge mess but had a great time painting her pumpkin all different colors. We carved the big pumpkin with a "surprised" face that Devera learned at daycare. I'll try to get a picture of if up tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The Great Pumpkin Patch
We took a trip to the pumkin patch this weekend. Needless to say, Devera had a fantastic time. She rode the tractor, held baby chicks in her hands, and thought about riding the ponies. Here she is racing around the pumpkin piles! For me, since my mouth was still swollen from all the dental work, I really appreciated the "melt-in-your-mouth" homemade donuts that they had. MMMMM.....donuts!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
New Ebay Auction & Special
Hope the weekend is going well for you. Today was the first day I've been out of the house since Thursday when I had my dental work. I actually played soccer today - - I was kind of worn out just because I haven't been running or anything for a couple days. I bet that goes away in a week or so. I did manage to get a new Website Special up today if you are interested. In addition, I also posted a new Ebay auction....which you can CLICK HERE to take a look if you are interested. Tomorrow we are planning on taking Devera to the pumkin patch....sounds like fun! Have a great Sunday!
Friday, October 20, 2006
Feeling Better...
Yesterday I had the dental work done and was pretty out of it on pain killers all day. However, today I woke up and felt great. I did sleep until 11:00am so that may have been part of it but I was pretty excited not to have to take the pain medication anymore. Today I've kind of been taking it pretty easy, watching a movie, doing some laundry, and eating incredibly soft meals (oatmeal & pudding). Toby said she was going to make some scrabled eggs for dinner so I'm looking foward to that. I did get an auction all set today that will start on Ebay tomorrow around noon. It's a set of 16 beads in really nice mocha & raspberry colors. I've also got another special that I plan on putting up on my website in the next day or two. Please check back if you are interested. Have a nice start to the weekend!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Some Dental Work....
Uhhhh - Thursday I am getting my 4 wisdom teeth pulled plus another one that will be getting a dental implant (with bone graft). From what others have told me, I'll have a couple days of sitting around the house on pain killers not feeling overly comfortable. When Toby got hers out I remember she was kind of out of commission for a couple days. That doesn't sound like too much fun but I'll probably get to watch a movie or two. I'm thinking of renting Lady in the Water. I've been wanting to see that for some time. It's by the guy that wrote Sixth Sense & Unbreakable....two movies I really enjoyed. We're also hoping to take Devera to the pumpkin patch for a pony ride this weekend. Not sure what she'll think....she loves horses but is also kind of afraid of really big animals. I'll keep you posted on how all this goes...
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Daddy & Devera Day
Devera's daycare was closed yesterday so the two of us hung out all day. We took a trip to the zoo in the morning. Devera thought the monkeys were fantastic. I think her favorite thing to do was to ride these stone statues they have. She particularly liked the snail, which looks remarkably like a camel for some reason. She kept saying, "I rode the camel" for the next 3 hours. After the zoo we kind of played around the house for a couple hours. Then we went to watch the University of Portland Women's soccer team play during the evening with a friend. It's crazy that this little school is the home of the National Champions. It was pretty awesome last year when they were blasting through all the big schools like North Carolina, UCLA, etc. on their way to the championship. I'm pretty psyched that Devera can sit through an entire soccer match without getting bored....this one even went into 2 overtime periods. I was pretty tired by the time we got home (8pm) because she didn't take a nap during the day (which is extremely rare) since the roofers were pounding nails all day....sounded like buffalo....loud ones!
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Homemade Tomato Sauce!!!
Ok - that turned out fantastic! I had a ton of fresh ingredients from the garden - - tomatoes, onions, basil, oregano, rosemary, and sage. Add a little garlic, nutmeg, olive oil, red wine, salt, and pepper and there you have it. It simmered for 6 hours so the whole house smells terrific now. The recipe said it would only need to cook for an hour but it was pretty watery. Toby suggested that I simmer it to let the water burn off...it was a pretty neat process. I put the tomatoes in as huge chunks and by the end of the 6 hours they turned into a delicious sauce. I think that was definitely one of the more fun things I've cooked in the past year or so. I'm planning to do it every year at harvest now since I never know what to do with all the extra tomatoes and it's pretty cost prohibitive the other times of the year when you would be buying the tomatoes at the store. ....and tomatoes in winter - - that's just not going to cut it for making a nice sauce anyway. Devera snorfeled it down for dinner so I know she liked it too. There was even enough to freeze...although it was only enough to fill 2 medium tupperware up, quite a reduction from the 4 pounds of tomatoes I started off with!
2 New Ebay Auctions
Took the car in for a tuneup and oil change today and was super productive....I put up 2 new auctions, both focals. If you are interested in taking a look CLICK HERE. I'm going to use the rest of the afternoon to try to make some tomato sauce from scratch. I harvested a ton of tomatoes recently and was thinking it would be fun to try something new. Besides, Devera loves tomato sauce. We walked down the street last night and had pizza for dinner...I think it's her favorite food right now. Except for anything called "special treat". That's when she gets super excited because she knows it's going to be a cookie or pudding or something. Alright, on that note I'm off...I'll write back later and let you know how it went.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
New Special Up
I put up a new Special on the website so please check it out if you are interested. It's an actual finished piece. I sold all of the other bracelets I had but I never put this one up on the website. It was intended to be a present originally. I usually sell bracelets for $70 so this one is a real bargin at $15. Please send me an email if you'd like to purchase it.
Monday, October 09, 2006
New Roof
Here is a nice picture of some of the harvesting Devera and I did tonight. I think she ate as many tomatoes as she picked which made it even more fun. The reason we are harvesting is because we are doing some major work on the house that is likely to crush the garden. ....as if painting the outside of the house wasn't enough, now we are having a new roof put on. We've been talking about doing this for years but it just seemed like the right time to get this done. The roof has leaked on and off for the past few years. It will be nice not to have to worry about that for awhile....hopefully. The guys come on Wednesday to start tearing off the old roof. Naturally, this is sort of a risky time to be doing it because as many of you know....it rains a lot in Portland. Although I looked at the forecast and it's supposed to be dry for the week. On a completely unrelated note I did manage to put up a second Ebay auction - CLICK HERE if you are interested in taking a look.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Lupus Walk
One of our friends has Lupus so Devera and I went on their annual fundraising walk down by the river this morning. We met up with a bunch of friends and had a good time. I think they said they raised $25,000 so that was pretty cool. We also won a silent auction for a weekend down at the coast - - I think it is for a condo stay down in Lincoln City.
Last night our daycare center had "Parents Night Out" where you can pick your children up anytime before 10:00pm. Toby and I went downtown for dinner and then rode the streetcar up to one of the popular shopping districts here (NW 23rd). It was nice to get out for the evening - - super relaxing! I'm heading in for a nice nap now that Devera is going to sleep.
Last night our daycare center had "Parents Night Out" where you can pick your children up anytime before 10:00pm. Toby and I went downtown for dinner and then rode the streetcar up to one of the popular shopping districts here (NW 23rd). It was nice to get out for the evening - - super relaxing! I'm heading in for a nice nap now that Devera is going to sleep.
Friday, October 06, 2006
New Ebay Auction, Survivor, & New Picture of Devera
Hello Everyone -
A couple quick things today...
I put up a new Ebay auction - CLICK HERE if you are interested in taking a look.
I'm not sure if any of you watch Survivor or not but I was happy the lazy, bossy guy got kicked off last night. I've cut out almost all TV watching (feeling much more productive these days) but still enjoy wasting an hour watching Survivor each week.
And the last thing is one more picture from Devera's Birthday - - she loves those toys!
Have a Great Day!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Bead Gallery is Up Now
Ok - I think the site is all set now. If you notice something not working please shoot me a quick note. The bead gallery is super fun - - I will be adding to it over time but for now it has some of my favorite sets and focal beads in it. One funny note from today, Devera starts out every morning on our way out the door saying, "no rain". It hasn't rained here in some time but it's funny that she is already a Portland Kid when rain is the first thought every day!
Monday, October 02, 2006
Harvest Time!
Early Fall is just a great time of year. Our vegetable garden is exploding with food and the weather has been cooperating to push the season an extra week or two. Tonight Toby made a super tasty roasted vegetable dinner. We used eggplant, sweet peppers, onions, and herbs all from the garden. We've even been getting cantaloupe out of the garden this year. But best of all is definitely the tomatoes. I grew a ton of different varieties this year, including these neat striped roma tomatoes. If you want to have the absolute best cherry tomato you've ever eaten you have to try Territorial Seeds Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes. They are orange, sweet, and pretty acidic. I'm definitely looking forward to the holidays but I'll be sad that the fresh vegetables will be gone....sigh.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Lots of New Focals
Hello Everyone -
Hope the weekend was fun for you. Toby and I went out to a nice dinner last night at a place called Roux....a sort or New Orleans inspired restaurant here in Portland. The food was really good....I would definitely recommend it if you are in Portland. I had the soft shell crab - - some people get icked out by the thought of eating the whole crab, but it's really good! Today we went to the Farmer's Market. Devera gets super excited and starts jumping up and down if you mention Farmer's Market so that is pretty cool. Lots of things are in season right now but I'm partial to the peaches...you can't beat a juicy, fresh peach! I've received lots of nice emails and comments about the Boston Gamilton set that's up on Ebay right now....glad to see people have a sense of humor. Coming soon will be some new focals. I've been making these very intricate beads over the last week or so...I can't wait to put them up.
Hope the weekend was fun for you. Toby and I went out to a nice dinner last night at a place called Roux....a sort or New Orleans inspired restaurant here in Portland. The food was really good....I would definitely recommend it if you are in Portland. I had the soft shell crab - - some people get icked out by the thought of eating the whole crab, but it's really good! Today we went to the Farmer's Market. Devera gets super excited and starts jumping up and down if you mention Farmer's Market so that is pretty cool. Lots of things are in season right now but I'm partial to the peaches...you can't beat a juicy, fresh peach! I've received lots of nice emails and comments about the Boston Gamilton set that's up on Ebay right now....glad to see people have a sense of humor. Coming soon will be some new focals. I've been making these very intricate beads over the last week or so...I can't wait to put them up.