Maddie

I've been kind of obsessed with Maddie the Coonhound ever since I first found out about this Tumblr site. A dog. On things. Too awesome. And of course, I love that she recently was photographed in Wisconsin. What a cutie. (via swiss-miss)

The View Right Outside My Window

White to Gold

For the past couple months the boys (and I, and occasionally Brian) have been taking tae kwon do classes. Honestly, it's not something I ever thought in a million years I'd be doing. But C was interested in it, then H said he wanted to try it and here we are. What I'm finding, is it's really been great for all of us. For C, it's a great way to release some energy and practice focusing. For H, it's about building confidence and speaking up. For me, its about focus, balance, flexibility and cross training. I don't ache when I run anymore (and I've been running longer distances). My mind doesn't wander quite so much. And it's just been really fun to do something with the boys. Let's put it this way -- I'd much rather be at the dojo than sitting in front of our TV at night. Ironically, it was C who got us there, but H & I are the ones enjoying it most. Last night the boys had their first testing -- from white belt to yellow belt. They rocked it. Tomorrow, it's my turn. Wish me luck!

[Update: My testing was today and I did it. Board broke, moving on. Gold belt here I come.]

Art by C :: Alligator Teeth

I opened C's closet and what did I find? Bunches of alligator mouths. Wish I could have captured these better -- they really are very sweet.

Sky Pilot

Brian was going through boxes in his office over the weekend and came across this photo of H and our dog Sky Pilot. Don't worry -- if you don't think he's the most attractive creature, you are not alone. But Brian and I adored this dog. He was our first child, and perfect for our city life at the time. Contrary to what people may believe, greyhounds are very lazy and don't require much exercise, really. The biggest obstacle we had was teaching this long-legged beast to walk up and down stairs when we first brought him home. He was 4, and lived in a kennel on a race track in Florida. Stairs just were not part of his life. Brian and I may have even shed a few tears the first time he walked them on his own -- after weeks of us moving his feet up and down the four flights to our loft. By the time this photo was taken, Sky was 10 years old, gray, missing part of his tail (he would swing it in a circle and bang it on everything -- blood flying everywhere -- so we had to get part of it removed), and missing most of his teeth. I guess you could say he was slightly high-maintenance. Most importantly though, when this photo was taken, we had known for two months already that Sky had bone cancer and that his time with us was numbered. It's such a horrible feeling. We made sure to take him to the Regap picnic that year to hang out with his other greyhound friends (Regap is the organization we adopted him through), where they took this photo for us. H was about 1.5 years old here. I had completely forgotten about this picture -- but was glad to have found it.

Hamburglers

My sister and nephew were have a craving today -- for Solly's burgers. Luckily for us it is close our house, so they asked if we wanted to come too. I've heard a lot about this place, but today was our maiden voyage. Solly's is known -- brace yourself -- butter burgers. In case you haven't heard of them before, here's how Wikipedia defines them:

In the Upper Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, burgers are often made with a buttered bun, butter as one of the ingredients of the patty or with a pat of butter on top of the burger patty. This is called a "butter burger".

Oh, leave it to Wisconsin. A butter burger is not for the weak of heart -- literally. I asked for H's and mine to be light on the butter. He felt robbed, telling me he couldn't believe I'd do that to him. I guess there wasn't enough butter pouring off his burger for him. But I thought it was perfect this way.

Basking in the Sun

Dinner with Dad

My dad is in town for the week, and came over for dinner tonight. We were all very excited to see him -- even if C was his typical difficult self for part of the visit.

Valentine's Day

(Hearts made by H & C in 2007 when H was 5 and C was 3.)

If you ask me, any day that we get to take some time out to spend time with our loved ones, and do something special for them is a good one. The boys were home in the morning thanks to a late start day (tomorrow too), but so excited to get to school. C was even dressed and ready to go before we were even awake. He wore the t-shirt he and the babysitter made a couple weeks ago -- after he cut off the bottom of it to make it fit better, and even put on jeans since it was a special occasion. The highlight of H's day was the dance party they had in his classroom.

My boys definitely spoiled me, showering me with home made gifts and cards (my favorite). C even surprised me with this amazing sculpture.

'
It's me and him hugging. I kind of love it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of me and my honey. Or us and the boys. This is the best I could do once I realized it.



The kids love having meals consisting of courses, so that's what we did for our Valentine's Day dinner. It was delicious, if I do say so myself.





BBQ Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Mussels
Asparagus Salad with Hazelnuts and Parmesan Cheese
Ricotta Stuffed Gnocchi with Browned Butter and Pine Nutts
Flourless Chocolate Cake

Yep, it was a pretty perfect day. Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day too!

Lunch Date

Lora, Melissa and I have been talking about meeting for a long, long time now. Lora lives half way between Melissa and me, so her stomping ground seemed appropriate for our lunch gathering. We lingered over hot tea and never wanted to leave. It sure was great seeing these two of these lovely ladies today.

Fruit Salad

C is our snacker, pretty much wanting to eat all day long. Usually he's always begging for junk, so you can imagine I was thrilled when I found him making a big ole' fruit salad for himself. Yum. (And he ate pretty much the whole thing!)

Fish Bowl

Looks like H was bored with his old fish bowl.

Last Indoor

Saturday was C's last indoor game of the season. He's so bummed -- especially since H's team is playing the next session and he's not. But the boys had a great last game, winning 7 - 3. And of those 7 goals, C scored 3 of them. He was on quite the role, and was absolutely in heaven.

Update: H played his game today. They won 3-2. It was a fun game to watch, and H scored a goal. Great soccer weekend for the P boys.

Room Rules

H's Room Rules

1. Don't wake me up in the morning
2. Knowk (Knock) on Door when closed
3. Don't touch any thing (anything) on shelfs (shelves)
4. Listen to sign below (tells you if you can come in)
4. C CAN NOT COME IN ROOM!

These rules don't
apply to Storm.

Mixing Ink in Water

Photographs of ink in water by Alberto Seveso (via the Jealous Curator).

Super Bowl XLVI

My sister hosted a little Super Bowl get together this year, and I'm not even sure I watched a minute of the game. Frankly, I really wasn't interested in either of the teams. It was a lot more fun drinking sangria in the kitchen with Christie and my cousin's wife -- although Amy is pregnant with number three, and wasn't doing any sangria drinking. Meanwhile, the kids participated in an Uno tournament. (H lost to Christie in the finals.) And of course, we completely pigged out on Super Bowl junk food. I even brought my bacon-wrapped tator tots stuff with cheese and Tabasco. It was a fun night, and according to Brian, was a pretty good game to watch.

Prepping

Valentine's Day prepping is a bit of a big deal around here. At least for one little guy.

Gimpy

Three times a week, Storm and I run 4 miles. Every morning after the boys leave for school, he sits at the door begging to go. He absolutely loves it. We used to run a lot more together -- frankly, I'm just now getting back in the groove. But he's kind of a perfect running partner. He heals the entire way. He doesn't make frequent pit stops. I feel safe with him. Although, once the weather is nicer, he does tend to get distracted by other people, dogs, squirrels -- you name it -- so I do leave him behind since he does tend to pull a little more. Yesterday during our run, I noticed he was limping a bit. You could barely see it. But every time I stopped to examine him, he'd just wag his nub of a tail and start pulling me to get going. Well, after his all-day nap (it's kind of what he does), he was totally gimping around. Needless to say, the old man needs a break. I can tell already he's not going to like that.

Inspiration Files :: Bowen Island, BC Residence

I could totally see living here. Adelaar Residence by Burgers Architecture Inc. (photos from Burgers Architecture, via Desire to Inspire)