Catholic kid

Right now Leah is using pretend oil to bring her stuffed animal children back to life so they can come to her birthday party.

Sillies

Leah, Happy I'm Home

Leah and Naomi were happy to find me home this morning; I spent the last couple of days traveling to attend my grandfather's funeral. Here Leah was being silly.

Preschool graduate

Naomi (Mimi) "graduated" from her three years of preschool on Saturday, June 6. Nana and Grandpa (Al and Lois Voeller), Phil and I and Leah attended. Her class put on a play, "The Little Gingerbread Girl," and Naomi played a cat. Her teacher told the audience what each child wants to be when he grows up and Mimi wants to be a veterinarian. Some other kids' choices were dad, fireman, mom, rainforest guy, and builder. Naomi's declaration is no surprise to us since she adores our cats, carries stuffed cats everywhere, draws nothing but cats and her favorite game is cat and kitty pretend with Leah. She also recently saw "Born Free," and sings or hums the theme song constantly (she morphed accidentally to the Star Wars theme (ever noticed how close those theme songs are?). She was upset to learn that there was no way she could raise a wild lion cub herself here. Maybe when she's grown up!

Mmmm, fish!

This recipe is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook but I modified it (I used chopped shallots instead of grated onion and red bell pepper instead of grated carrots). We both love fish and really enjoyed this recipe.

Fish Fillets Baked in Packets

4 pieces parchment paper or aluminum foil about 12 x 18 inches each
Olive oil or butter
1/2 c finely chopped red bell pepper (most of one bell pepper)
1/2 c finely chopped celery (about 2 stalks)
1/4 c finely chopped shallot
Salt and pepper to taste
4 Four to five ounce fish fillets such as cod, bass, red snapper, sole or tilapia
Lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Fold each piece of parchment paper in half and then open and lay flat. Oil or butter both sides of the inside surface of the paper. Combine veggies. Put some veggies on each piece of paper, to the side of the crease, then lay a salted and peppered fillet on top and add more veggies on top of each fillet. Roll edges of paper to form packets. Put on cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. Serve with lemon.

Yummy Veggie Chili

When our dining out plans were scratched last night, rather than scrounge up cereal or sandwiches, I decided to create something using what I had in the fridge and pantry. I started with a simple chili recipe that I found on the web but I modified it quite a bit. Fair warning: it's sweet for a chili and if you like chili spicier, you probably need to add jalapeno pepper or green chilies. The kids didn't eat it (oh well, no surprise), opting instead for the popovers I made to accompany it.

Sweet Vegetable Bean Chili

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  
• 1 can diced tomatoes, with liquid
  
• 1 cup corn kernels
  
• 2 small sweet potatoes, or one large, about 1 1/2 cup, cooked (about 5 minutes in the microwave), peeled and diced
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or water)
  
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, garlic, and bell peppers until the onions are translucent.
2. Lower heat and add tomatoes, corn and seasonings.
3. Stir in the beans, cooked and diced sweet potatoes and chicken broth. (If you want the chili to be thicker, you can mash some sweet potatoes before adding them or mash some with a fork after you add them or you can puree some of the beans before adding them.)
4. Simmer until hot and eat.
   

Leah's class, 2008-09

Here's Leah's preschool class. From left to right in the front row: Piper, Olivia, Vash, Jaguar (who has an older brother named "Ocean"), and Jenae. From left to right in the back row: Leah, Liam, Gabe, Jaxson, Spencer, and Ava.
This particular day was special because they made clown hats from paper bags as you can see. That was the day Leah decided to wear her pajamas to school under her regular clothes.
Leah had a huge "crush" on Liam at the beginning of the year. They were holding hands at circle time a lot. She can't say his name yet, calls him "Lamb," which makes me grin. She also calls Gabe, "Gave."
She is one of the younger kids in the class because of her summer birthday.

Kitchen pictures

I finally got around to taking pictures of our 90% complete kitchen. There are a lot more viewable from the My Pictures link on the left below Kidisms. The album is called January 18.

naomi's number 5

Naomi turned 5 yesterday. We went to the Imaginarium, which is a children's museum in Everett. Both kids had a blast.

We picked up Happy Meals for the kids on the way home and then both girls got a nap, although Leah only slept for about 15 minutes. That evening we had a family celebration with Ruth and Grey, Karen and Nathan, Dave and Rebekah, and Lael! Phil made a yummy roast beef. Everyone had fun. We had a chocolate cake (made by me using the classic chocolate mayo cake recipe) with vanilla frosting, chocolate frosting cat decoration (designed by Naomi) and star sprinkles.
Here Naomi is, dirty face and all. She blew out her candles one by one.

Thank You Note

I know this is impersonal to send a general thank you note. I went to Plan B with the SmileBox card after running out of patience creating thank you notes with the girls. We much appreciate your gifts and Christmas wishes!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Withering look

I had to post this picture of Leah. We are sure to see this look again! We were at Grammy Ruth's house for a holiday dinner and Leah really didn't want me to take her picture. This look was withering.