Uff'da

Chris just made some lovely bread for our camping trip!

This is what we missed when our friend's were visiting. So I'm sending out virtual fresh baked bread to them way down in Georgia!

Keeping busy with baseball, playing, chris gigs and small projects. Our friends from Georgia came to see us two weeks ago. It was so much fun and the weather was extra cold for them. Jennifer is from Minn so, whenever they get a chance to come back we try to visit, this time we got to meet husband/daddy Jason! It was just like he was an old friend, even though we've just met him :)

If we ever get to Georgia, ya know we hope to hang with them in Uber cool Athens :)
Oh, I had grand plans to have yummy Vietnamese food for supper (made by Chris of course, ha!). It's too hard to plan stuff sometimes, so we ate pizza, visited our new library and hung out on the patio with beer and stuff. Jason brought Chris beer from Athens local brew Then Chris went off to the White Horse for a gig and Jason went too. Nice bonding time at the local watering hole. I dropped the two off, took Jack and Hazel shopping for treats. Those two are like 2 peas in a pod! Even though they've not hung out much, in reality, they just get on so well.

Chris took Jason to work the next morning to show him the ropes and do "beer stuff" For a brewer that includes drinking before noon; "It's noon somewhere" need not apply.

Chris' band played at the Farmer's market in the afternoon and we all headed out. The kids had treats and ran about. My favorite thing was when Graham ran up to me (basically on the band stand, though it was just a small tent cover) and announced loudly, "Mommy, I think I just pooped in my pants!" He had a shart, but it wasn't too bad. As an experienced mama of 10+ years, not too much rattles my senses or pride. I'm over it. I think. Many people in St. Joe farmer's market might not be, but we are on to new "battles".

Anyway, having Jennifer and Jason and kids was one of the highlights of the summer. Just darn cool people.
Watch the film that her kiddo and friend did, love these kids.

Whoa! Where have I been?

OK, not very up to date here, sorry. I know I don't have many followers and I've found facebook- oh no!
I just got done with this book.

I promise to come back and update more, maybe tomorrow?

Busy with baseball and junk, not getting to the computer but to read the emails, news, a little research and some facebook.

Tried to natural dye with Lily of the Valley leaves and berries from our tree out front (Hawthorne tree?). Not successful. Hits? Something around my midwest yard I could use?

Potatoes, Potatoes, Potatoes!!

A recent Sunday brunch at our house.

So, da boys like the white substance that makes such fabulous Scandinavian greats like Swedish potato sausage and lefse. Chris and Jack can't get enough of that white vegetable, so in addition to lefse and sausage, there are hash browns smothered in more white stuff- Butter! Often, we have in addition to butter on our hash browns, Swiss cheese. Yes, we are OK mixing our ethnic dishes- ha!

Everyone needs a nap after this type of brunch, ya-betcha!

Don't mess with a boy and his potatoes!!

You'd Think Rapunzel Was Here!

I took a good 4 inches off of Graham just now!

I love his long locks, but they snarl a lot and it was time for a new look. We'll likely let him grow it out again. I just wanted to see what a little boy cut might look like on him.

It's not actually straight, but it's doable. I cute Jack's too and I really like the look. His grows so fast and I merely cut the ends, sides and bangs just a little- I did some fancy "layering" cuts. He looks like Andy Gibb a la 1978-CUTE! Well, that's my dream love, so maybe I'm going too far there. It's more Bay City Roller/ a feathered look. It's pretty funky and I like it. He likes that I think it's cool, so maybe therefore he's cool. What do I know, I'm not exactly the picture of hip.

If they let me takes pix, I'll post.

More Beauty

Absolutely stunning!

I'm No Longer The Brewer's Wife!

You can almost hear it crackle in this picture- a thing of beauty!

Yes, it is true. I should say, I'm not longer just the Brewer's Wife, I'm also known as the Baker's Wife! Chris has taken yeast manipulation down a new, tasty path! We've (more like, Chris) pushed around the idea of the "bread in 5 minutes a day" for over a year. We first heard about it on The Splendid Table over a year ago. By chance, Chris' mom gave us the book by Zoe Francios and Jeff Hertzberg for Christmas 2007 and it sat almost untouched until just before this past Christmas. Well, we toyed with the bread ideas again and how to best approach it in our family. We had just the right container to use (I happily turned over my large, round Rubbermaid goodie/cookie container to Chris). We re-read the book and pledged ourselves to try it full-heartily this time. Chris is really the man, I just help with the small details like going out to the grocer when there is a flour emergency! Oh, and I'm on board as the full-time taster, but Jack and Graham have pushed up the ranks and I'm losing the job to the boys. They love the bread and we haven't heard one complaint for "normal bread" in over a month!

I've heard that just about every Row band member has started down the bread baking road as well! Not sure if this is really true, just the story that came down the pike after the last gig Thursday.
Pick the book up at the library (a pretty long line for it at GRRL) or buy it. I'd say we could lend it out, but I think Chris looks at it almost everyday.

Permission to SWEAR!

I went bowling on Saturday night with "the girls" from our family for the (we hope) First Annual NOhMANn Ladies night out.




A fabulous idea put together by my niece Megan!


However, I suck at bowling and should know better than to bowl when I've been trying to heal a herniated disc. But, oh no! I wouldn't stop, even after one round. I went right ahead with the humiliation into a second round. And, at the very last (the very, very last) roll of the night while everyone was watching and I was trying to at least get a higher score than my sister Lucy, I fell on my ASS! Yes! I did!

So, on top of sore hips, aching back already, I throw my back out right there for everyone at Granite Bowl to see. Remember the commercial "I've fallen- AND, I can't get up" ? Oh, my gawd, my sister Lucy tries to pull me off my ass and I'm telling her "NO!" you can't just pull me up, I've thrown my back out!"

So, I'm on my ass, I can't get up and all my sisters, et al are laughing at me and Amy dear is taking a picture of me while Lucy is trying to pull me up. What a disastrous end to a pretty, cool night! I get up there and start crying out of frustration, embarrassment and pain. What a dandy!

I went to the chiropractor yesterday and to my FP today for some muscle relaxants and my wounded pride (what little I have) is being restored little, by little.

So, I asked Chris and the boys everyday if I could have permission to swear! Sunday it was "crap" or "shit", yesterday I asked for "damn!"...today, can I say "Son of a Bitch"? I think after today, things will be looking up, so I won't ask for the "F'Nheimmer tomorrow, I promise.

SON- OF-A-BITCH!

Tea Anyone?

Only a Mom would know.......

"One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me.
I was maybe 2 1/2 years old and had just recovered from
an accident. Someone had given me a little 'tea
set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite
toys.

Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news
when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which
was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of
praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home.

My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring
him a cup of tea, because it was just the cutest
thing! My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up.

Then she says, (as only a mother would know..... :)

'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can
reach to get water is the toilet!'"

Thanks to my friend Donna for this funny FWD message, lol :)

(I found the tea up photo online, so I'll link up the credit to where I got it from and who might be the photographer. I loved the shot and really, feel guilty just using photos especially such a well crafted photo).

What the?

I'm not going to link any of the news items, you'll just have to believe me on this. Besides, I got it from Jon Stewart and the Daily Show is the only unbiased news source out there!

What the ?? is wrong with the media following the Obama girls like a bunch of stalkers and reporting what they are wearing, the kind of doll hanging from their backpack, eating at school for the next 2 days, and so on? Geez! Kind of creepy. The Daily Show had great comments- just classic! ;)