Fancy Toys

Joshua calls it Chino's new toy: a grocery sack with handles. She's been playing with it all week.

Win, Lose or Push

Upon walking out of his Sunday school classroom into the hallway filled with people Noah saw his dad and in his piercingly loud voice asked, "Can we play 21 with poker chips when we get home?" Now I enjoy a good game as much as the next person, but somehow this seemed a little inappropriate for church. The night before he had discovered the fun of blackjack with his dad, uncle and cousin and anything new for Noah can instantly become an obsession. I just thought it would be a fun way to practice math. 

With poker on the brain there were endless blackjack discussions that day (Usually ending with me saying, "I'm not talking about this anymore.") and of course, playing more blackjack with Rich and Joshua. Noah's obsession continued into his prayer at dinner that night. In an effort to make our meal prayers less routine and help us to think about what we're saying we have been disscussing additional things to pray about before we pray. This didn't happen tonight so Noah went out on his own. As Noah prayed his typical prayer he paused and added, "Please help me win at blackjack." Should I be concerned and does he know when to double down?

Chicken How-To

I have never broken down a whole chicken but I think I can now thanks to the video demonstration on the Gluten-Free Girl blog. For those of you that don't need to be gluten free you can still find loads of cooking info and recipes on this blog. The author is now married to a chef and they create and post many things together. A new feature to the blog is a weekly video demonstration and the first was how to break down a chicken. This week featured how to make dark and light chicken stock. Fabulous! I love to roast a whole chicken but had never done anything else with it. When you can buy a six pound chicken for under $4 how could you not give this a try? 

Nicole Needs...

I enjoyed this Google game on a couple of other blogs and so here are my results. If you'd like to play just Google your first name followed by the word needs in quotes (ex. "Noah needs"). 

Here are the top 10 things "Nicole needs" according to Google:

1. Nicole needs... a Boob job really??? this is the number one thing i need?

2. Nicole needs...no food when she can shop 'till she drops uh,  I don't think so

3. Nicole needs...a drummer makes marching so much easier

4. Nicole needs....a new computer if it's a laptop

5. Nicole needs...a good meal always appreciated

6. Nicole needs...photoshop yes

7. Nicole needs...to Live in the NOW thanks for the reminder

8. Nicole needs...a reality show hmmmmm

9. Nicole needs...to lay off the botox I didn't think anyone could tell

10. Nicole needs...dairy to protect her bones  helps with my osteopenia

 

Gotcha

Sushi Night

Last Saturday was Noah's half birthday and we celebrated by making sushi. Noah enjoyed the process more than the sushi rolls themselves. He helped make the sauces, stirred and fanned the rice until it was cool, peeled and sliced vegetables and put the rolls together.

Things learned for next time:

• Wasabi paste is fun to use to make your eyes water but too hot for kids, even in small amounts. (Noah and Joshua had contests to see who could hold their face over the bowl the longest.)
• Shrimp and cucumber will not make avocado taste better if you don't already like it. 
• Your brother will keep bugging you to help so you might as well let him.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We had a sushi recipe book with great step by step pictures for pressing out the rice and rolling it up but we used recipes from Ming Tsai and the food network for our rolls. Rich and I would have really enjoyed these if we hadn't been attacked by strep throat from the kids. The boys would have like the smoked salmon rolls without the wasabi and the shrimp rolls without avocado. We'll get it right next time!

• Smoked Salmon and Jicama Maki Sushi Rolls
• Shrimp Sushi Rolls
• Soy Syrup - a must to drizzle on the plate and dip rolls into
• Wasabi Oil - a little goes a long way

Impressions

While Noah was home from school yesterday he had some math homework to do - subtraction with regrouping. While he was working I thought I'd clean in the living room and try to catch up on a show. Instead of the TV I kept hearing things like this: "Mom (long pause until I responded) does 43 - 17 = 26?" I would stop (mental math requires complete stillness), do the math in my head and confirm that yes, that was the correct answer. After about the third interruption and trying not to sound annoyed, I asked if he could do all the problems and we would check them when he was done. Feeling a little guilty I then asked if there was a reason he needed to tell me about each problem and he said, "Yes, I want you to be impressed." 

Just when you think they aren't paying any attention, kids remind you how much they need you.

Stress Relief

If you didn't watch The Office last night, you must. Now. I'm laughing just thinking about it.