Stuff our bellies full of food day

We decided to stay home for Thanksgiving this year. We spent the day with family and friends...and a lot of food.

I got up at 5am to get the turkey ready. We forgot to take it out of the freezer in time, so I had some last minute preparations to do.

Then, of course, the internal thermometer popped up one and half hours before it was supposed to be done. We decided to leave it in the oven for a bit longer, making the turkey a bit too dry.

Oh well...we also had a juicy ham! And I made Makena a Tofurkey.

And I made pumpkin bars. Pumpkin always makes me feel better.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I know that I ate enough to hibernate like a bear in Winter.

Good Things #25 +2

This post follows up the Good Things #25 and Good Things #25 +1 posts.

(I'm such a giver this month!)

http://gift.water.org/ : Purchase a BPA-Free plastic or insulated stainless steel water bottles and 100% of the profits go directly to support nearly a billion people in the world who lack clean water.

http://www.donatefruit.com/ : For every purchase, the company donates an equal amount of fresh fruit to food banks.

Guess what my family/friends are getting for Christmas. : ) (I know Makena, you want the water bottle...)

I'm sure I'll have more to share soon, so stay tuned!

Good Things #26

I wanted to share a post with you from Reuseit.com Blog. I thought it was a cute little video with a great message.

Makena's new glasses are in!

We picked up Makena's new glasses last night, but she wasn't supposed to start wearing them until this morning. So...I brought my camera into her room this morning...

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Me: Can I get a couple of pictures of your new glasses on you?

Makena: Right now? Mom, Batman is on...

Me: uhh...can you just look at me for a second?

Makena: {sigh}
Me: Okay, put on the other pair.

Makena: Did I mention that Batman is on?

Me: uhhh...can you just look at me for a second?

Makena: {sigh}

Me: And maybe smile?

Me: Thank you.

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Back to Batman. And yes, it's the original Batman & Robin with Adam West & Burt Ward

Where's Moxie?

Moxie doesn't like to go on walks in the rain. I mean really, who does?

But that makes walking her outside every day a bit hard. Especially in Oregon.

So we broke out of the house between sprinkles today and I brought my camera along. See if you can follow Moxie...

C'mon Mommy...lets go!


Trees...lots of trees...

and lots of leaves...

yep...lots of leaves.

ohhh...and a cat!

and Mommy stopping to take more pictures of things that I can't see.

wow...lots and lots of leaves. Are we almost home yet?

yep, this is a Celebration Ct. tree.

We're home.

Good Things #25 +1

Because I bought some items from a website (that I can't yet name), they sent me a gift card as a "thanks". But not just any gift card, a card that lets me choose from over 250 charities to donate the amount to.

I love these things!

So, I wanted to add the charity gift card website to yesterday's post of "Good Things".

TisBest.org - check it out.

Good Things #25

Well...here it is, almost Christmas time. Yes, I know it's still a month away, but you don't have that much more time to shop. Especially if you shop online like I do and need to account for your items to be made and then shipped.

I suppose if you shop at the last minute, at a department store, you still have plenty of time. Wow, doesn't that sound like a whole lotta fun? Hundreds of pissy people, crammed into the stores, looking for that perfect gift, only to find out that this is the last one and they will take you down if you even look back at it.

Ummm...no thanks.

I have a few "Good" suggestions for you.

1. Etsy - literally, the best website ever! Wonderful handmade and vintage gifts for all.
2. SAC - we found these great little bags at a recent 'Green Fair'. They are sustainable, durable and green. (pssstt...I'll take the Square SAC in Ornee.)
3. Wear Your Veggies - super cute eco-friendly clothing with hand-drawn artwork. You can receive 10% off of your order with the discount code VEGLOVE.
4. Etsy - did I mention this one already? hmmm...it must be THAT great.
5. All Things Green - a huge range of low-impact products.

Have fun shopping!

The "Goods"

Good Friends. Good Food. Good Laughs. Good Drinks. Good Times.

Every few months, Jamie & I got out to dinner with our friends Mark & Beth. We take turns choosing the place and picking up the tab. Last night was our turn.

We had late reservations, so we decided to go to Accanto first for drinks. The bartender was wonderful and suggested new drinks for everyone to try. The ambiance was perfect. A small little place on Belmont St.

We then headed next door for dinner. Jamie found an Italian restaurant called Genoa. What surprised us all about Jamie wanting to go here is that you don't really get to choose your dinner courses; the Chef does it for you. You do have the choice of 2 or 3 items as your entree and dessert, but the rest is chosen for you.

Jamie doesn't like to try new foods.

Jamie doesn't like anything "crunchy" or things he doesn't know.

Although Jamie poked around his plates a bit, he tried almost everything. (We were all proud of you Honey!)

The salad - which came with an olive oil, garlic, anchovy dip. Yum.

I had the quail. (Sorry Pook! When I saw it, I honestly felt bad and couldn't eat it all. I did eat the polenta tho.)

After dinner, we headed to Hubers Cafe for their famous Spanish Coffees. More Yum.

Side Note: cell phones in dimly lit restaurants don't take the best pictures...obviously.

Good Things #25

I know that Christmas is only a month and a half away (yipes!) but I wanted to share this idea I read on The Creative Mama.

To help my children think beyond what they will be “getting” for Christmas, we started doing a “Christmas Jar” a few years back to help them serve others during Christmas. We use an empty canning jar for our “Christmas Jar” and fill it up with loose change throughout the year. Then as Christmas draws nearer, our family chooses a needy family with children similar to their ages (so it will really hit home) and have our children purchase gifts for them. Some of the gifts are toys and some are more practical items, like clothing or food.

We have a couple of these "spare change jars" around our house and I think one of them will officially become the "Christmas Jar" from now on.

Coolest Mom Ever continues...

The 'Coolest Mom Ever' saga continues...

On Wednesday, I took Makena and her friend Greer to another concert. This one was called the Fearless Friends Tour. There are 6 bands on this tour; 4 of them I knew. There was 1 of them I could have gone without hearing, but that's just how it goes when you're the Coolest Mom Ever.

The concert was at The Hawthorne Theater. If you haven't been there, the lounge side is actually bigger (seriously) than the concert hall. Good place for lots of speakers, kids and loud music.

The doors were to open at 5pm, so we left directly from school. It was a toasty 40 degrees out when we were standing in line. Luckily, there were only about 75 people in front of us and the doors opened shortly after 5pm.

After getting inside, I headed straight for the 21 & Older area. There usually aren't very many people there and you can still see everyone in the crowd. I could spot the girls, listen to the music and talk to other adults. I met another Cool Mom there with her 14 year old daughter and friends. We talked and laughed he entire time. I'm sure I'll meet up with her again soon.

The FreeCreditScore.com band (Victorious Secrets) were the opening act. Goofy group of guys, but good.

Next was Go Radio; the band that Makena most wanted to see. Meeting the lead singer of this band, Jason Lancaster, was on Makena's list of '50 Things to do...'. Side Note: Jason Lancaster used to be the lead singer for Mayday Parade; the headliner of this tour.

And this is Jason Lancaster. Yep...lots of tattoos, and he has those stupid things in his ears, but he has a raspy, deep voice that young girls apparently love. I mean...who wouldn't right?

Makena did meet him, but would take a picture with him. Silly goose...

Up next was Artists vs Poets. The lead singer had such nice, fluffy hair. I text Makena to touch his hair when she was talking to him.

"No, Mom...no" was the reply text.

So when he came upstairs after his set, I kept staring at his hair. Then he stood next to me and we talked for a bit. The other Cool Mom tried to take a picture of me with him, but my cell phone wouldn't cooperate and the picture just turned out a bright mess. And my daughter wouldn't cooperate and give me the camera. Oh well, it was a good thought. And a good laugh.

The next band was Every Avenue. Then Breathe Carolina was up - the band I could have done without. (I just don't understand the point of screaming into the microphone.) And finally, Mayday Parade. By the time we got out of the concert, it was after 11pm. A full night.

It's a shame that these talented, smaller bands don't have the look needed to make money like Justin Bieber or The Jonas Brothers. Or maybe they just haven't met the right person. They do have a large, faithful following so they continue to make some money doing what they love. They walk around after their shows, selling tshirts and cd's and talking to their fans. They sign shirts, shoes, and who knows what else, and get pictures taken with their fans. They drink crappy beer, because it's cheap, and wear their own band tshirts.

Until next time,

Coolest Mom Ever

Trick-or-Treating 2010

Jamie and I went trick-or-treating with Kylah, Kallie, Ivie and Logan again this year.

Dylona left a cute note out next to her candy bowl.

After taking a picture of the skeleton, Ivie says "Auntie Amber, don't you want to take a picture of me too?"

Of course I did!

We went through all of the loot when we got back home.

Then I tried to take more pictures, but Logan didn't want to cooperate.

Until Uncle Jamie was involved.

Ivie switched hate with Uncle Jamie.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Lake View Farms 2010

Even though we returned home to a stormy Oregon, my wonderful friends were happy to join me at the pumpkin patch. We did get about 30 minutes of sunshine before the dark, grey clouds moved in.

Kylah and Kallie helped me pick out a pumpkin for Uncle Jamie. He had to stay home and watch football.