It's so easy to just put videos up. They kind of speak for themselves and I can just do less writing!
Here are a few funny ones from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!



Here are two. I have more but don't have time right now. The first one is from our trip to San Francisco. This is in Golden Gate Park. We stumbled upon some sort of group dance lesson. It was so cool so I had to take a video.
The other one is of Charles and Madeline. He discovered her little ABC magnets and wanted to sing along for Madeline. She was unsure of him touching her stuff at first but then kinda got into it. They are super cute! Now she has started singing her ABC's too!

Yesterday, Madeline and I went up to Addie's house for a little visit and for some raspberry pickin'.
Madeline could not eat them fast enough.
Here is a video. Enjoy.

Madeline is very a very caring girl. She always wants to make sure we get a little try of whatever she's enjoying. Check it out.

So, yes, it has been a very long time it seems since I have entered anything! We have just been so busy since school has been out that today I think was our first day to just be at home with a relatively clean house and feeling like we could relax.
Anyways, there are a lot of photos to post so I will put some up of our trip to Calistoga with Mike's family, Madeline and my cake from yesterday and whatever else I can find.
There is also a very cool video.
Madeline is on fire right now. She is SO quick with new words and everyday, she is surprising us with something new.
She is really into Winnie the Pooh right now and also, has found a love of honey, probably something to do with Pooh. But she yells, "POOHHONEY!!" and spins in circles laughing. She has had a few of those honey sticks that we bought at the farmer's market and well, it was love at first taste.
Tonight, we also smoked a whole chicken breast on the bbq and she could not get enough of it! Holy cow, she probably ate half of a breast by herself. Her love of sausage is so weird. If she had just sausage for every meal of the day, she would be pleased as punch..."saussaus and eggies" is what she always asks for but she hardly ever eats the eggies but always the sausage. We get the kinds with no nitrites. Well, enough babbling! Here are some photos of the last couple of weeks!

So, this is wine tasting with Leslie. The guys took all of the kids while the ladies went out to lunch and did a little wine tasting. We are at Rombauer and I could barely slow the car down before she was out the door and hopping on the cow! (We dared her and well, of course she couldn't turn down a dare!)
These pictures of Mike and Hank are from the oyster fest. Some booths had HUGE oysters and they could barely choke them down...













That is a picture of the cool house we rented. It's actually a small bed and breakfast but we had the whole thing. I think it only sleeps 8 anyways.





Here is Madeline with her cousins. They were fast friends and she pretty much could care less about where I was, she just wanted to hang out with Emma. And Emma is SO good with her too!



That plate down there is what I had for lunch. We went to the CIA restaurant and I got the lamb kufta, it came with falafel, tzatziki some micro greens of course and crispy pita! YUM.






This is Madeline and her friend Hope, our neighbor. She came over and they painted one day. They had a ton of fun!




Sorry, the photos are all out of order because I can't figure this thing out! I am going to do two posts so that I can do it better on the next one!

There will always be people in your life, Stacy, who hold you back, who cost you too much, and who fail to see all you've done for them. But, of course, they're just there to teach you that you do have time, that you'll always be rich, and that your own high standards are all that matter.

You knew that,
The Universe

And here I thought I was the teacher. Silly me.

So all in all, it's better to live as if there are no "do-overs," so that you won't need one. But I thought I'd share this with you anyway, to work in the bits about fear, mistakes, and how precious today's opportunities really and truly are.

That's my message today. Well, it's part of it and it's the part that I like. We'll see what we can manage to do with our day today!


First, everyone needs to get fed:


Okay, now we are off...this is actually my attempt to get Madeline to take a nap because she just won't go with us home all day!
I will post more pictures later from our week at home.

Here is a video of our little independent girl! She is so determined to do just about everything herself.


And this video just speaks for itself...

Messages from the universe.


You just never know how close you are, Stacy.

Best to assume "very, very, very."

Verily,
The Universe

Ever heard of this? It's funny yet, usually, so true. Even though the messages make me smile, I am usually also thinking, "woah, totally. How did they know just what to say?"
It's this website called tut.com and they send messages as often as you like and they are just little daily messages that say something poignant. I look forward to them every morning!
This one from yesterday can probably be taken more than one way but I take it to mean, get off your ass, what are you waiting for, this could be your last day! I think that's a great way to try and live your life...anyways...
So, Madeline is doing great these days. She just got over a wicked cold/cough. It's horrible to hear such big and deep coughs coming from such a little girl. We have gotten rid of the crib and we gother a little toddler bed. She so far, loves to jump on it and play with her little animals. Sleep? No, not yet. Next week during break when her and I are home alone, we will be working on this.
Anyways, I am off to cook dinner!

Dinner on Friday Night.

Mint Sambol
Cauliflower Dum
Bangla Dal with Lime
Bangla Slow Cooked Beef with Browned Onions and Chapatis

How can I put into words how much I love South Asian foods? I have decided that what I want to do is move there, anywhere in the region really, and learn how to do the food the right way. Then, move back and do Fine Dining Asian food. There is just so much flavor and so many layers to one dish that it makes me crazy. I just don't understand how they eat like this every day. There are so many steps and ingredients to each dish...there much be an easier way...this is my new quest! To find out how they do it so easily! Anyways, that's my dream this week. Next week it could and probably will be something completely different.
Here is a picture of the dinner!

Here also, is a video of Madeline thoroughly enjoying Christmas music. She could not get enough of the piano playing snowman! She has learned a few new moves. She has some pretty good rhythm and it's only getting better. Last night we found out that not only does she like OCMS's Wagon Wheel song (ofcourse) but she LOVES the band and all of their music. She danced for the entire cd and for the entire set that they played on Austin City Limits. Maybe she has lots of great dancing in her future!

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!



It's snowing! Can you believe it? It is so nice. I love it when it's cold outside and we are so warm inside with our fire. Heaters just don't compare on days like this...

It was my 34th birthday last Sunday and we had a feast. Take a look at what Mike prepared. This is actually a picture of 11 crab. I guess the picture does not do them justice. We had some of my favorite people over for some
of my favorite things to eat and for dessert, rather than cake, which I do not care for really, we had brownie sundaes.

Madeline was sick all last week. I thought she was teething and I still think she was but it was just awful. She had a cold along with a fever on top of teething so she was not happy at all. It was a very hard week to be completely honest. She really loves to brush her teeth which is highly encouraged. She really likes to do it herself however so we humor her for the first few minutes then we have to grab the brush and brush her teeth for her very quickly. Then she always has to wash her hands to finish up. She is definitely a creature of habit. And our nights are going very well. She is sleeping straight pretty consistently from 12 to 5 which is a huge deal for me. This is a lot of hours right in a row for me. However, she is still in the bed which I love for a lot of reasons but also, for a lot of reasons I am kind of over it. She is just getting so dang long! She's kind of a bed hog too and she doesn't like covers so she is constantly kicking her feet to get them out of the covers! Crazy girl. I think rather than moving her into the crib, that I would prefer to just move her into a little toddler bed. She can get up when she needs to, she sleeps on mattresses like that everyday at school and they won't have the jail bars on them which she despises. I think I will look into those soon! Anyways, wish us luck!

Hey everyone!
So, I am trying to post videos and this site is just giving me so much trouble! I will keep trying tonight. There are a couple that capture her personality oh so well and are quite entertaining. She has become very serious with her new facial expressions! There is a devious little grin, there is this fabulous look of shock and surprise with a little gasp added in sometimes for emphasis and there is a furrowed brow with some arm crossing...I have no idea who she gets that one from...I think it's Mike! ;)
Anywho, keep checking back my loyal (4) followers...I will try and be more persistent with posting this stuff!

AH! Finally! Here is bath time. She has finally started letting us give her baths again thank goodness! She loves the bath again.

Dancing queen...
This spinning circle is something totally new. So interesting to watch her and to see what makes her happy! I hope it's always this easy but something (reminding myself of what I was like in high school) is telling me I am in for a long and bumpy ride!

We went to see Old Crow Medicine Show tonight. They were SO good, as usual. I put two videos up. One is old but they still sang that song and the other one is from a month or two ago. If you have never heard them you should! They are so fun and so talented.
Enjoy, I am going to go cuddle with Madeline. Good night!

Here is another one from last night. Madeline is enamored with Christmas lights. She is so expressive! Anyways...here ya go!

SORRY!

It has been too long since I have posted anything. Here is a new video of Madeline playing this morning. She has been waking up in fantastic moods and lately has just been so funny and happy. As usual, she is a joy to be around...

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Sparkling Wine Poached Pear, Candied Pecans and Spiced Pastry Cream Tart

This was a lovely tart. Perfect for the time of year and the flavors all worked so well together. I was very happy with the outcome!

As much as I would love to cling onto the summer's bounty, i am ready to accept that fall is here and it is now time to start baking with fall fruits and vegetables. I do love this time of year though especially because of the wild mushrooms. Within this next month we will hopefully be feasting on fresh chanterelles and boletes! I can taste the forest already!