Happy Birthday Sweet Girl

I can't believe my girl is three. *sigh*

We made her a cake that my mother-in-law used to make my husband for his birthdays. But I get the impression that our version didn't live up to expectations.

Patiently waiting.



The "House Cake."





The loot.



I got a guitar for Christmas because my dear sweet husband knew I'd been wanting to learn a new instrument. And he plays the banjo, so it just seemed logical that A get a mandolin for her birthday!

She is in love! At first she called it her "baby guitar" then it was her "baby banjo" ....but now she proudly calls it MY mandolin.





Watching Daddy.

Firsts

Last year about this time we closed on our first home. We moved in a week before Christmas, and spent the holidays stepping over boxes and power tools. We ate Christmas dinner on the floor because we hadn't unpacked enough boxes to give us the floor space we needed just to set up our table and chairs. Our house had the aroma of fresh paint, not pine trees and peppermint. But, we didn't really care. We we're eating Christmas dinner on OUR floor.

Two days after Christmas my little girl turned two, and we were back on the floor eating A's birthday cake. Still sourrounded by boxes and power tools. I didn't even get to make her cake...there was no baking going on in that kitchen. The oven was barricaded by more boxes. I had to buy her cake from the grocery store. *sigh*

(note all the junk and unpacked boxes in the background?) Although it doesn't really look like A cared, hehe.


This is what our living room looked like over the holidays last year.


This past year has been a year of many firsts, including our first real Christmas in our first home of our own. Last weekend we went out and got a tree, and I am loving how warm and cozy it makes our house feel. I never want to take it down. Like those crazies that leave their Christmas lights up year round. Maybe I will turn into one of them.

I took this picture a year ago today during our walk-through.


....and today.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I noticed this the other night. Hmmm, I wonder what happened here.



Maybe this little thief girl saw something...you think?

Bank Shot

Bank Shot
Ball-in-hand
Nice break
Rack 'em

...These are not expressions I ever thought I'd hear my two year old say. But over the Thanksgiving holiday I did. We spent the holiday at my father-in-law's house, and she learned how to play pool down in the basement with Papa. Well as well as any two year old could play, hehe...

She had a great time and it was fun watching her learn.





And isn't this an essential part of the game of pool? But hopefully my sweet girl won't learn that part of the game until she's 30. Well maybe 45.

One Potato, Two Potato, Sweet Potato

Only three more days. Three more days until OPERATION: DON'T BREAK THE SCALE DURING THE HOLIDAYS. I concluded that duct taping my mouth shut for the next six weeks won't work. But one of the things I will try is to come up with healthier alternatives to some of my holiday favorites.

One of the things I look forward to eating most around the holidays are mashed potatoes. Red potatoes, white potatoes, garlic smashed, potatoes with gravy....it really doesn't matter. I love them all.

I saw a big display of sweet potatoes at the store this week, and I thought "hey, maybe sweet potatoes really are healthier?" I've always heard this was true, but I decided I needed to do some research of my own.

Invigorated with the thought of finding a holiday food that wouldn't bring the enormous amount of guilt that mashed potatoes brings, I hit google.

So what did I learn? Yes, sweet potatoes are indeed healthier.

Here is a brief nutritional breakdown of sweet potatoes vs. white potatoes. Now you might notice that the grams are different between the sweet and white potato, but this is due to the fact that the density per serving size isn't quite the same between the two.

Sweet Potato (baked, skin on)

White Potato (baked, skin on)


Sweet Potato (vitamins and minerals in 200 grams)


White Potato (vitamins and minerals in 299 grams)

*source: www.nutritiondata.com

Now the basic nutritional differences (calories, fat, carbs, etc.) are comaparable. Although the sweet potato is considerably higher in fiber. But as far as the vitamin and mineral differences, there are some major differences.

So while not a completely guilt-free, traditional mashed potoato and gravy substitute....move over mashed potatoes. This year you've been replaced by something sweeter.

Pass the Banana Pudding

In my opinion, there is only one legitimate use for Vanilla Wafers: Banana Pudding.

If I'm going to eat a cookie, I'm certainly not going to waste my calories on a boring and stale-from-the-minute-you-open-the-box wafer. Even the name implies gross. Wafer sounds like a way to add fiber to a geriatric diet. Not dessert.

Growing up in Virginia, I believe every summer cookout I've ever attended had at least one dish of banana pudding. But I don't think I've ever made banana pudding in November when it was 40 degrees outside. But bananas were on sale for 19 cents a pound this week, and I bought enough bananas to feed a large family of monkeys. So I've made banana bread, banana muffins, banana buckwheat cakes (all of which freeze well by the way)...and today I made banana pudding.

I'm not a cookbook-using kind of person. I have tons of them but they never get used. If I made something and followed a recipe at all, it was likely from Food Network But on the rare occasion I do use a cookbook, it is most likely this:



Banana Pudding Recipe, p. 1020.


Modified the recipe a bit. Had to try to make it at least a little healthier, right?

3 c. 2% Milk
4 Egg Yolks
3 tbs. Cornstarch
1/2 c. Splenda
1/2 c. Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt
1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla
Vanilla Wafers
4 Bananas

Combine Splenda, Sugar, , Cornstarch, Salt and milk in saucepan. Heat on medium low until sugar is dissolved. Add egg yolks and stir. Turn heat up to medium, keep stirring until thickened. Turn heat down to low and cook another mintute or two. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent pudding from getting a skin as it cools. Line bottom of pan (I use 9x13) with single layer of Vanilla wafers. Add a layer of sliced bananas. Pour pudding mixture on top. Top with layer of wafers. Cover surface again with plastic wrap and chill for at least four hours.

Something an almost three year old just doesn't get: "We can't eat this now; we have to put it in the fridge and let it cool for a few hours."

Something tells me freezing this won't be an option. I give it two days in the fridge.

Halloween. A bit late.

I've slacked a bit with the blogging. I guess I haven't figured out how to make it a habitual part of my schedule. I will try to do better. My work schedule has changed to where I have four day weekends. (really, could it get any better?) So that will give me more time for this.

So I meant to post these pictures of my sweetie's Halloween Kimono. I'm only two weeks late...

The fabric.


After a crazy number of hours, and the last minute enlistment of my mom's help for alterations (because I don't do the sewing thing well) it was all done!

It Has Arrived

Too busy drooling over the pages to write more than this.....

Oh Bento!

Let's see, I've introduced my thrift store addiction so I guess it's time to introduce another, recent addiction of mine: Bento.

After seeing all her fun, beautiful creations, I have my friend Papaya Mom to blame for this addiction. I soon made my first Bento. It was ugly. But I was hooked. It's fun, creative, healthy, and makes lunch something my husband actually looks forward too. Not to mention, I can put about anything in Ainsley's cute bento boxes and she'll eat it.

My bento collection is getting out of control. I now have two entire kitchen cabinet shelves now devoted to bento boxes and accessories. But of course I need more.... So today I ventured out to check out more of the local asian markets and stores for Bento stuff.

I'm going to guess that there are at least fifty asian markets within a thirty minute drive from my house. And it's been my mission to check them all for bento. My first stop today was Pika Pika, only about three miles from my house. It's not a market, but a store specializing in only Japanese goods. I walked in and the man working there looked at me in that, "are you in the right place?" kind of way. I said "bento" and he nodded towards the wall. I walked around the aisle and just about passed out on the floor. An entire WALL of Bento. GASP. And with prices so low I really almost hit the floor. My last bento purchase came all the way from Japan and I'm not even going to tell you what I spent on that stuff, not to mention the shipping....

Just some of what I picked up today. *big smile*


Here are some of my bentos.





Ainsley's "fishy lunchbox"


Mommy's bento

So if you're interested, there are tons of great resources out there, like Lunch in a Box and Flickr Groups. Just search the Flickr groups for "bento."

Curious Parenting Observation

So I can't be the parent of a potty training two year old, and not have just one post about the potty, can I?

Now I don't want ignore everything my husband does with raising our child. He really is the perfect dad, and I couldn't have asked for a better parenting partner. We really work like a team, and really look at parenting the same way.

And he dove right into his dad duties when Ainsley was born. I had a c-section and couldn't get out of bed the first day. I really don't think I'll ever forget the image of him changing that first icky newborn diaper. You know, the really icky one? Nor will I ever forget his exclaimation, "Oh my GOD, it's like tar. I can't get it off her....it's ON ME now....it's everywhere....how am I supposed to do this and hold her legs at the same time...oh now she's squirming!"

He'd never changed a diaper in his life. He'd never practiced in those nice parenting classes the hospital offers. We skipped that stuff.

But one thing that I have noticed during the potty training, is that I think that men, my husband included, think that potty training is just mom's job. Now how's that?

About 2% of Ainsley's potty training success can be attributed to Daddy.

But about 98% of her accidents are Daddy's fault too. This is how:

A: Daddy, I hafta pee.
Daddy (holding the playstation controller): Hang on just a mintue ....
A: I gotta pee Daddy.
Daddy: Just one more second...
A: (looking down at the floor) I toldya I had to pee, I toldya....

But, regardless of my lack of help, Ainsley has graduated to big girl panties! Of course, her favorites are the Dora undies.

Labor Day Project: Roman Shades

I've been planning these for a long time. It took me months to decide on a fabric. Decisiveness isn't always one of my strengths. It turned into more of a project than I thought. But, they are done and I am really pleased!

It's never a good sign when a project starts like this....


When I sat down to sew the shades today, the feed dogs wouldn't come up. Feed dogs....never given the oddly named things much thought, but now I hate them. Hate them.

As long as I've waited to make these shades, I wasn't giving up without a fight. Of course I didn't want to wait to take the thing in to the sewing machine repair shop. So I got out a screwdriver and tried to take the thing apart. My husband laughed while he was watching tv from his spot on the sofa. He wanted no part of taking this thing apart. He told me if something went wrong I would just blame him. He was probably right.

I think the mean folks at Singer must make taking these things apart hard on pupose. Maybe to prevent people, like me, who are clueless about the inner workings of a sewing machine from making matters worse. Well I didn't heed their warning. It took me over 40 minutes just to take it apart. But once I did, I found one of the springs had come loose, fixed it and was back in business. I put this machine back together, but discovered an extra, unknown piece. Never good. So back apart it came. Found the home for the mystery piece, but it back together...and....when I plugged it back it, the thing even worked!!

Ha, my dad would be so proud. I don't think there was a weekend of my childhood that he didn't have some appliance in pieces on the kitchen floor.

So after a long day of sewing (not my best skill) they are done!

Of course I couldn't wait until there was better lighting in my kitchen...so the pictures suck, but I couldn't wait until tomorrow morning for better light.


*Edited to add a picture - this is this morning with the morning light coming through the windows.

Craft Saturday: Suncatchers

Playdoh gets old real fast. Ainsley and I love doing crafts and projects, but we've been in need of some inspiration. So after getting an idea from a friend, today we tried making suncatchers for the first time. Very easy and lots of fun!

All you need is wax paper, crayons, scissors, nylon string/fishing line, an iron and paper/newspaper/cardboard/etc.

1. Shave the crayons on one a sheet of wax paper. I use about a 12 inch wide piece.
2. Place another sheet of wax paper over top -the same size as bottom piece.
3. Place it between two pieces of newspaper/cardboard/paper/etc, making sure that the shavings don't leak out the sides.
5. Iron on lowest setting for 30 seconds or so, just until the shavings have just begun to melt.
6. Once the crayon melts, let cool and then you can cut it into different shapes.
7. Punch a hole on the top, and string it with nylon line and hang it in a window.

Here are our first attempts. Ignore my dirty windows.



And my very uncrafty husband came up with this idea, and even sat down and made this tree himself. He shot me a mean look when I suggested I take his picture while crafting.

A Perfect Friday Morning.

Ainsley and I spent the morning at one of my favorite shopping spots. The Virginia Beach DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Thrift Store. I've been shopping there for years, and when we lived in WV I would even have my mom go for me to scour the store for great finds. When I was pregnant she would send boxes and boxes of little newborn clothes from the thrift store. Aren't moms the best?

I can count on one two hands the number of brand new pieces of clothing I've bought for Ainsley. Everything else has come from the DAV. It's a bit of an addiction really. But I'm saving $$ and helping out a great organization, so it's okay, right? *wink*

So here's my stash from our trip this morning.



For $43 I got:

27 Yards of Fabric
Fisher Price School House
Pink Tractor
2 Books
3 Pairs of Pants
6 shirts
2 skirts
2 dresses
An undisclosed number of surprises for a friend who just gave birth to her first baby girl

Here's some of the fabric I found. I thought it was really cute. It's a 100% cotton king duvet, so I think that's about 16 yards. Right? I have no idea what I will do with it. Open for suggestions.

And here's the best part. 16 yards for...

If you can't decipher thrift store scribble, that's marked down to $3.98. *proud smile*

And here is a pink tractor I picked up for Ainsley. What two year old little girl doesn't need a pink tractor?

Oh Sweet Summer.

Will I miss summer?

1. I will not miss the heat or the overwhelming, take-your-breath-away humidity.

2. I will not miss sweat. Whoever said it cools you off was lying.

3. I will not miss my husband working longer hours just because there is more daylight.

4. I will not miss the mosquitos that take over our coastal town.

5. I will not miss the tourists and the crowded beaches.

6. I will not miss my two year old thinking she can stay up until 9:00 because "it's not dark yet mommy." (although, really.... deep down I like to stay up late with her)

But now that summer is almost over, I know I will definately miss one of the sweetest parts of summer....

Tomatoes from our garden.

The Picture Below The Title

Where is it? WBGV. Anyone know what that means? *wink*


West By God Virginia. Fairmont, West Virginia precisely.

It's the end of August and I've already got fall fever. Spring and fall battle it out for my most favorite time of year. But when we were living in WV, it was definately fall. It's just such a beautiful place. We only spent three years there, but I really miss it, especially this time of year.

What you see in the picture is downtown Fairmont. And I use the term downtown very loosely. We were living in downtown Fairmont when our daughter was born. She spent the first year and a half in that house, and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

So if you're ever in the area, check it out. Especially around October. Oh, and if you're there you must get a hot dog from Yann's. A Fairmont institution. His hot dog shop sits right on the other side of the bridge seen in the picture. The bridge was originally built in 1921, and was nicknamed the Million Dollar Bridge because that's what is cost to build in 1921. But the bridge was restored in 2000 and got the new nickname, the Billion Dollar Bridge. The local joke is that the bridge was built to let Fairmont residents on the other side of the river eat at Yann's. Great hot dogs. But I think part of the greatness comes from the experience more than anything. Oh and the crazy spicy chili hot dog sauce. But don't dare order ketchup. There are even signs forbidding customers from ordering anything but mustard, onions and "hot dog sauce." Seriously.

I'm finally here. My first post.

I made it. Finally. I set up this blog ages ago, but there it sat. Out in cyberspace. Probably because I didn't want to deal with this first post. But also because the first title I came up with was Latin that I translated myself. So I was always afraid I had it terribly wrong. Spanish? Yes. Latin? Not my thing.

I've wanted to blog for a long time, and it seems like almost every day I think "ya know, if I had started blogging I would post about this." Or "I would take a picture of that and put it on my blog." And I have so many blogs that I love to read and so many friends that are loving the world of blog.

But, I've put it off. When I set up this blog I got totally excited, sat down to write my first post and said "humph." So that was the end of that. Put off until tomorrow....isn't that how it goes?

So what do you put in a first post? Should it be simple and to the point? Grand in nature? Written more for me or for a reader? I guess to get started I'll strike a balance. Haha, see my blog title? How appropriate.

A brief explanation of the title - Almost ten years ago I was an undergrad on I think my third major and found myself enrolled in an intro to political science course because it qualified as an elective in my major at the time. But only about two weeks into the course my life took a pretty big turn. Up until that point I was pretty indifferent about the whole college experience. It was okay. Going to class was more of a chore, and I struggled to get my work done on time. But I fell in love with this poli sci course. I declared a second major, and from then on I had a new attitude towards higher education. It was pretty damn fun. So I spent almost the next ten years of my life as a full time college student. And I'm still completely distraught that it all had to come to an end.

Oh yes, the title of my blog? Well the title of the book for that course was called "A Delicate Balance." I really don't think there is a more appropriate title for an American Politics textbook. So I love the phrase, but not just to describe politics. So much in life I think is a delicate balance. We all try to balance work, family, school, friends, community, etc. We try to balance growing older while trying to feel younger. We make sacrifices in some parts of our life so we can more fully enjoy other parts. It all really is simply a delicate balance.

Well this first post is already longer than I would have liked.....

So what you'll find in my blog. I'm a wife, a mother, a college instructor, a photographer, a fairly new homeowner....so you'll see a lot of pictures. Mostly of our fabulously cute two year little girl, but also of our never ending home improvement projects, our coastal virginia community, did I mention my two year old? And I'll throw in posts about life, current events, cooking, gardening, and all the other projects I never seem to have enough time for. Oh yeah, we just got a new German Shepherd puppy, Eliza, and she is an adorable handful. So you will no doubt get to read about our adventures in puppyhood.

So I'm going to fight the urge to read over this a thousand times and just post it. Then I will go off and figure out how to add pictures, links and other really cool stuff. Maybe someday my blog will actually be pretty.

Okay, now that this is out of the way I am really excited!