the predicament of food

so we gerbickians love food. both wes & i enjoy cooking & i also like to bake, meaning there's usually something fairly tasty to eat here as far as leftovers go. & we gerbickians are on a tight budget. it's not like we're headed to the poor house or anything, but with one income we can't be extravagant & thoughtless with our spending. we often scrutinize what we are buying each month to keep ourselves in check, but not in a bad way, right? just to make sure we aren't over spending.

these two things cause great distress in our home, the love of good food plus the need to stay on a budget. since food costs are rising & annual raises aren't necessarily keeping up with inflation...well, let's just say we are trying to find ways to buy less of some things. over the past year we've done well in other areas, except food! & i'm not talking about eating out, we are consistently stay within our budgeted amount for that--which i find amazing. the problem is that we're sort of food snobs; we just really enjoy eating yummy food. ya know?! what's wrong with that, right? unfortunately, friends, there is something wrong with that & it's the cost of that yummy food.

so the past month wes & i have been toying around with cutting our grocery bill, again--somehow! i'm just going to put it out there for everyone to judge, we spend about $150 a week (that is from adding all the food purchases including costco, grocery stores, toiletries from target/costco, trader joe's, farmer's markets, etc & then dividing by 52). {btw: this does include formula, folks!} we think this is a lot to spend on groceries & toiletries...but we have tried to cut this down & have discovered that it means lowering our food quality. plain & simple, it means eating more processed foods & less made-at-home or more natural food yumminess.

& i can't do it. i just can't eat fake mac n cheese from a box when i know what real mac n cheese taste like made with scrumptious emmentaler swiss & white sharp cheddar. or it means having noodles & marinara sauce at least once a week...ya know, i did that in college for 5 years, i'm not ready to return to that monotonous cycle!

now some things are cheaper to make, such as marinara sauce & even chicken broth & desserts for sure (bread pudding, come on! very cheap. strawberry shortcakes, cheap for sure) & on good weeks, we are really great about making the dinners & planning the meal out throughout the day {ie: making pizza dough at 2:30 for dinner that night, or defrosting some of our beef or chicken & marinating, or making noodles/pasta--which is wes' specialty). but we try to incorporate fresh produce into every meal & this is what skyrockets our bill (& i'm defining fresh produce as purchased at the grocer during the winter & early spring, then if we don't grow it in the summer, at a farmer's market). so where is the subsided for that? yea, we get frozen veggies & they're great & it works for some things like peas & green beans & corn...but when i taste steamed broccoli from the produce section & compare it to steamed frozen broccoli, there's a difference to me. so, really, is there a substitute? is there a way to lower our budget line?

but what would the girls eat if they didn't have that apple or bowl of berries or pear? fruit snacks? i just can't make that decision for them...i mean, i prefer fresh fruit over fruit snacks (although they do have their place in my mouth at times, don't think i have banished them or anything). & i feel it to be my duty to provide my kids with healthy options that are available to us...i don't want to force them into bad eating, basically. & now that they know what a fresh strawberry tastes like, will they even want fruit snacks? (addy says no).

i'm telling you folks, we are food snobs...& just this week wes & i have decided to embrace that. i don't mean go overboard & insist that our girls have organic everything & never let a pre-packaged food choice pass their lips! i just mean embracing that we enjoy a nice dinner that we took the time to prepare. good food takes time & it is the one thing that i place above cleaning, exercising, & sometimes socializing...if we are on a time crunch & it's the choice between making a dessert for a special dinner or just someone i think needs it (or dinner for my family), i will nearly always choose to cook or bake.

i'm not sure if wes & i get this from our own parents & families or whether this is something that we both happen to enjoy. really, both of our families have excellent cooks throughout...we both grew up eating canned food from the backyard garden (i guess me more than wes, but he has experienced it whereas some folks our age haven't) & then having dinner with our family each night (well, for my family, if it was basketball season, this wasn't so much the case, lol). i dunno, we are foodies, as one of our friends put it...& i think i am done trying to make excuses to myself & just accept that we will have very high grocery bills, meaning i might not get to take that trip to europe or venezuela or hawaii--or anywhere out of ohio--as soon as i wanted to, but it does mean that we spend time together as a family preparing & eating & even shopping for the food, which makes things very exciting (i do NOT recommend taking two kids 2 years & under to a grocery store with you. do not).

as usual, i'm not sure if this all makes sense to everyone else reading it. but its my blog & i'll ramble when i see fit, *smile*

so, you many wonder, what's on the menu for the gerbickians this week? well, today for lunch we had grilled chicken with lemon-pepper seasoning, sided with gorgonzola-spinach (trader joe's frozen) gnocchi & peas (b/c our girls love peas...i force them down my throat my hiding them in the gnocchi. i gag at peas usually, but i have to eat them if i expect my kids to, eh?). then tonight for dinner it was grilled italian sausages with (home canned) heirloom tomatoes, a green pepper & a vadalia onion & also sweet corn (& stone ground mustard on the side, yumminy yumminy). tomorrow is a 'breakfast-for-dinner night' & we are having a sausage-egg-potato skillet scramble that also includes onion & garlic & a wee bit of gravy-cheese mix (the gravy being made by yours truly & the cheese being probably a sharp white cheddar that is amazing & even more amazingly cheap from trader joe's). i also plan on making strawberry shortcakes & if i get around to it, i'll post this recipe i have that will make you--if you like bread--eat the shortcakes even without strawberries or cream. i am very guilty of this. then tuesday night is wes' night to shine by making a cheese & mushroom ravioli & marinara sauce from scratch (i love this man). wednesday is an easy night: frozen (trader joe's ...i love this store!) honey glazed asian chicken stir fry w/ jasmine rice. thursday has the cheeseburgers on tap (when made with this beef we have, it is a sublime burger, i tell ya) & if we get crazy, some home made french fries. if we don't get crazy, purchased & frozen fries & steamed broccoli (smothered in cheese if you are addy & okay, me too). friday is usually pizza night, but since wes & i will be gone (christine's bachelorette party! yea!!!!!! & wes is a designated driver for the ladies), so my mother in law will be here with the girlies for the evening, so we are putting a roast in the crock pot & then sweet potatoes in the oven for them to enjoy. saturday will be goat cheese, caramelized onion, & roasted red pepper pizzas on the grill (pizzas rock on the grill, folks). sunday dinner will be sirloin steaks & baked potatoes with fresh garden chives & broccoli. i just think we like food, lol.

what do you think? really, is this a normal menu for a week? or are we really over the top? i mean, we don't know, we've only cooked together. do other people have pbj's 3 times a week? as you can gather, there is a reason we spend $150 a week. i just can't eat pbj's that often.

on a sidenote: the ENTIRE time i've been typing this i have listened to an ice cream truck's music in our neighborhood. come one, dude, it's almost 9:30pm. give it a rest! do you know how annoying that music is after, oh 1 minute? ggggaaaahhhhhh! (yea, just shut the window, heidi, doi!)

the strawberry thief

if you look closely you will see our strawberry thief. she will strike at any time of day. she will eat the berries whether fully ripe or not (ewww!). she has two legs, blond hair. you get the picture!

although a bit bothered by her continuous eating of non-ripened berries, this IS what the strawberry patch is for: family eating! & eat she does. i think when a large amount of the berries ripen, she will be drunk on the s'berries.

there is a part of me that is very proud that adeline is digging around in a patch of home grown fruit & then biting it after doing a little spit-shine to get the dirt off (amazingly, i believe she thought of this herself! she loves to spit, really).******

change of scenery: inside.
time of day: late morning, post millie 1st nap.
occurance: amelia's first climb up the slide.
success rate: .5
status: knocked over by older sibling

this would be called the sister-train:

"see amelia, this is how you do it"

"oh, i get it!"

******

random pictures

the millie sleeping in the outdoor swing. poor kiddo. when will that tooth come through?

addy swinging with her favorite outfit on in 85 degree weather (with 89% humidity). even hot weather can't keep her out of her cat-halloween shirt!

addy watching kangaroos at the zoo.

she kept trying to climb into their area...we went thursday to the zoo with my sister in law, her mom, & my twin nieces, who are 2 years old & addy's best friends. i haven't seen addy so excited in quite awhile as when she laid eyes on the twins yesterday. she talked to them, held hands (not for long, but...), they tickled each other even a bit, addy shared their double wide stroller with one at a time. we were there for 5 1/2 hours, the longest we have ever stayed at the zoo & it was by far the easiest zoo trip we've had yet. not sure if it was b/c addy was so entertained by her cousins or if it was b/c we had a grandma there! or both? BUT, the question of the day: how did i only get a few pictures, mostly of animals? these twins had on the cutest dresses & the girls were being oogly-eyed in love with each other & i didn't manage to get a good picture of all of them together! DOI!

amelia also really enjoyed the twins, but for other reasons such as snatching their french fries. she has become quite the quick swiper of any thing, but food in particular. but the twins didn't seem to mind, at least they didn't respond like addy does ('mine!') maybe b/c they've had stuff swiped from each other before?

what else? well, today was a very frustrating day with huge ups & downs. i think we are reaching the pinnacle of addy's language barrier. by now she should have, what...200 words? maybe, i can't remember exactly. today i wrote down all the words she said & added a few others she didn't use that i know she can say & there is 21. to be proud, "cool!" is one of the words, *smile*... but i can tell that she is getting even more frustrated with herself & not being able to express herself through language. she has started this frustrated, high-pitched gibberish & then tears start to well up in her eyes & she throws her arms up in defeat. there have been many, many, many tantrums this week. not the big ones that last upwards of an hour, but the constant mini ones. she even peed herself 5 times today! she is beyond frustrated, i am beyond frustrated & i think we are at this hopeless point b/c no one will freakin call me back about getting speech therapy lined up (help me grow isn't so wonderful, after all! humph!) or about her hearing test results. i am ready to pack up the medical train & move to this type of 'homeopathic/wholistic md' version of a doctor that i have read about in some magazine in the past 2 years. someone who will take the freakin time to call us back, to be concerned with her whole situation, not just their little part in the equation. *SIGH*

in better news, i think i can say with confidence that life has gotten a bit easier lately (yes! even with amelia teething her top front teeth for the past 5 weeks. grrrrrrrrrrr.) i have accepted that addy doesn't nap anymore & if she happens to fall asleep on the couch or in her room (i still put her in her bedroom for 'quiet time') it's a plus & our night just got a bit easier. amelia is doing the two naps a day & is just a hoot to watch crawl around & explore. she has such interest in everything. it makes me smile to see her find a strewn lego & how excited this discovery makes her. & she's giving hugs, i swear it! this starts the age that i really enjoy...the exploring! i don't mind babyproofing & finding toppled everything (b/c really, if i've left it out, it's more my fault, eh?). her enthusiasm about everyday items is very contagious. just today she studied the intricacies of a toy-fairy wand for hours. it went with her wherever she went via mouth or her hand (or addy). only once did she poke herself in the eye with the end! so yea, i am loving that she's crawling & i can't wait for her to walk, even more fun in my opinion.

i've decided that the only other thing, besides being pregnant, that makes me never want to have a baby again: the age of 2. i can only go through this one more time. if we do adopt a kid in a few years, he has to be over the age of 3! that's my only stipulation, lol. maybe age 2 would be easier if adeline could express herself better. for sure we have had a rough go of it b/c of this language stuff, but i know all 2 year olds are a bit prickly around the edges. don't get me wrong, adeline amazes me daily with her kindness & soft heart & how she can crack jokes without even talking is beyond me, but she is a tiny comedian. when i wake up & hear her in the morning, i love it, even as she's throwing my glasses in my face, smudging them. or when she rolls around in our bed so much that she loses her place & rolls right off (which is quite the distance now with the new bed frame). or when she tells us-seriously-1 million times "addy a-boo-boo" in that poor me voice (i told her today that even the pope himself in rome knows she has this boo-boo & it will be okay now & she just looked at me with a very quizzical look & walked away. it worked!)

i don't know what i'm trying to say here. i do know i'm still tired half of the day, these girls wear me out! but i'm realizing how dirty my house is & doing better at finding little snippets of time to clean little by little every day. that is a huge development! i'm also making more meals from scratch, which is also a sign of the times (life is getting a bit easier again).

a recipe

we just made this saturday night & it is fabulous. try it!

thai satay chicken skewers

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp water
3/4 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
4 green onion, cut into 1 inch pieces

1. slice chicken crosswise into 3/ inch wide strips; place in shallow glass dish.
2. combine soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger, & red pepper flakes in a small bowl. reserve 3 tbsp mixture; cover & refrigerate until preparing peanut sauce. add water to remaining mixture. pour over chicken, toss to coat well. cover; marinate in refrigerator at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. soak 16 wooden skewers in water 20 minutes before using to prevent from burning. prepare grill.
4. meanwhile, for peanut sauce, combine coconut milk, reserved soy sauce mixture & peanut butter in small saucepan. bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. reduce heat to low & simmer, uncovered, 2-4 minutes or until sauce thickens. keep warm.
5. drain chicken; reserve marinade from dish. weave 3 or 4 pieces accordion style onto each skewer, alternating with green onion pieces placed crosswise on skewer. brush reserved marinade from dish over chicken & onions. discard remaining marinade.
6. place skewers on grid. grill skewers on uncovered grill over medium-hot colas 6-8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center, turning halfway through grilling time. serve with warm peanut sauce for dipping.

****
delicious! i recommend serving with steamed jasmine rice with cilantro & lime juice & grilled pineapple.

this is from 100 best appetizer recipes cookbook. we have found many yummy recipes from this cookbook so i highly recommend it!

****
amelia fell asleep in the swing outside this afternoon & adeline is in her room, hopefully sleeping. dear, wonderful, amazing judy crawford has offered to bring us dinner tonight! whhhaa--aat?! yes, that's what friends are for? we are so tired. it's been quite awhile since i've been sick & working off of barely 5 interrupted hours of sleep.

in other news: the GINORMOUS groundhog living under our backyard neighbor's screened-in porch had babies. 4 of them. & apparently wes' grandma has given us word that groundhogs can eat plants (similar to what just happened to us a few weeks ago). we are soooo putting up more of the fencing at the bottom of our fence now! crazy little groundhogs are going to be crawling all over the place if we don't. grrrrrrr.... this is one of the few times when i haven't found a baby animal to be cute. all i could think when i saw them was, "die, little ones, die". do you feel the hair on your neck go up? that's right. die babies, die. lol. & in more detailed news, we have ants in the house. again.

time to watch a mind-numbing show online (cupid? castle? those are shows on abc, in case you are a cable person).

virus monsters!

-an adaptation of birthday monsters (by sandra boynton).
sadly, based on true events from last night...

virus monsters!

you're not awake. it's 2 o'clock.
you hear a cry.
you hear a COUGH COUGH.

you hear the cough turn bark--
THE VIRUS MONSTERS ARE IN TOWN!

five virus monsters barge right in
and yell, "IT'S NIGHT TIME!
LET'S BEGIN!"

they rush the parents awake
before we're ready

& use our adeline as a germ factory.

"OH LOOK!" they shout.
"IT'S 2:08!
YOUR 911 CALL
CAN'T WAIT!"

they've brought the illness
they like best.

adeline gets blue lips
from coughing without rest.

"AND NOW,"
they say,
"IT'S MEDIC'S RESPONSE!
YOU ANSWER THE DOOR
& WE'LL MAKE HER SCREAM!

we find an EMT who's great.

we listen & wait,
listen & wait.

we realize 20 minutes later
we're being sent to the
hospital-ator. {sorry about the poor rhyming, lol}

"IT'S TIME FOR A RIDE!"
the monsters shout.

"SO HURRY! GET THE CAR OUT!"

we close our eyes
& make a wish,
& look upon...
...a wheezing-adeline-petri dish.

"AND NOW, GOODBYE!
IT'S BEEN A THRILL!"

and out they go. the car is still.

they took our sleep.
they scared our daughter.
they made us call 911 then drive to the ER.
there's nothing more that could go wrong.

and then
DEEP BREATH.
and then
SING SONG.

one last surprise is here for you--

THE VIRUS MONSTER RECOVERY CREW!

they fix!
they sweep!
they scrub the lungs!

the airways are open!
they're out the door!

and on your kitchen counter
you find

the medicinal things
they've left behind.

THE END.

*YAWN*

what a night. addy has croup...again. this was the worst that we have ever heard! yes, her lips did turn blue b/c she was coughing for 5-10 minutes without stopping or catching her breath. then when she did stop, her breathing sounded like a cough. i called 911 b/c of the blue lips & when the lady heard addy's breathing & asked if it was her cough & i replied that it was her breathing, that's when she sent the squad...anyway, long story short, she was given some steroids by the er doc & hopefully will do better today & tonight. she does sound like a raspy, old smoker, but she's still kicking & giggling, so...

what a night. & here i thought addy was the healthy one out of all of us! wrong again.

sorry, all who were at the bbq with addy yesterday...i hope the virus monsters don't visit you b/c of her being around you & your kids. so sorry if they do!!!

just the two of us

strawberrys delight& what is that picture of these delightful strawberries about? well, those are our first ripe berries of the year!

that would be amelia & me, the mama. we stayed at home while daddy & adeline go off to a bbq party. *sigh* the joys of being ill. this cold has really kicked the bottoms off amelia & i. i was hoping yesterday was my worst day of the illness, but as i woke up this morning i knew that was wrong. maybe today is the worse (or would it be "worst"??) day? yes, carol, as you said in your email, having a cold when it's not cold outside is just wrong! maybe b/c in the winter, when sick, you don't feel so shabby staying inside in a near comatose position all day? but during the warmer months, particularly a spring holiday weekend...being sick just plain sucks.

anyway, blah blah blah sickness.

so wes & adeline left around 3, leaving me with the millie monster (who is the cutest monster ever). after her nap, we played peek a boo with laundry (yes, why am i doing laundry when sick AND holiday?!), read books...then i would sort of zone out on cold medicine & find amelia crawling on me frantically trying to get my attention. it was fun to just hang with the wee one, but i do wish we could've also gone to the bbq! i was looking forward to this for the past few days, hoping my cold would go away by now. i just feel so bad taking sick kids somewhere, ya know? well, apparently adeline had a wonderful time playing with the bunch of boys & another wee but tough toddling girl. (why is it that nearly all our idaho friends are having girls & nearly all the ohio friends have boys?!).

amelia is finally able to read books without older sister disruption & book swiping.

& yesterday we ventured to cinnamon lake (ohio) for my twin niece's birthdays! they're two, which is baffling to think about. i think i finally rid my brain of connecting their names with the vision of them as ohsotiny babies & now i have to add to their brainfile (a term i am now saying is a real word) that they are two!

so this is leila (my sister in law) & her grandma behind her, then chloe & zoe while we are singing happy birthday (which they were so happy to be sung to. heart melting moment, folks).addy running with a stick. brilliant. (where are her parents? lol)

chloe & zoe playing in/around/near my brother's new compost bins/piles. they are mighty spiffy & put ours to shame, sadly.

last week i finished "the book of ruth" (not the one from the bible) by jane hamilton. & i can't get it out of my mind. i have a very hard time watching violence on tv (law & order/ncis/heros/etc can give me nightmares & sad awake thoughts for days). anyway, i bought this book years ago at the vineyard bookstore, thinking it was a devotional or something of that sort. not so! & before i read it now i didn't really know what it was about...until the end. darn it! hate it when that happens. i sorta thought it was similar to "zippy" & "she got up off the couch" by haven kimmel (which are two books i highly recommend, btw, as is her "the solace of leaving early" novel). anyway, this book of ruth ends with a brutal murder (of the mother of ruth) & the wife/mother being beaten nearly to death while pregnant by her mentally unstable husband. (sorry, if i just ruined this book if anyone was going to read it. i do recommend it, if you can handle the violent end; this author has a way of writing in a midwestern dialogue, which made me laugh).

some may know, some may not know, but i was in an abusive relationship in high school (for 3 years! egads) & it just really pains me to even read a fictional account of abuse. but it has made me pull closer to god & wes & hold my girls a bit tighter .... knowing what i know, hopefully i can help them not get into the same situation i was in. but it's not really my choice, it's theirs, which is very hard to let go of. anyway, these are the thoughts that are plaguing the sickly mama right now.

& now, to bed!

our day, in reverse!

why don't the pictures upload in order?! grrr.
so i guess we are showing you our day, in reverse. deal with it *smile*

SO! here is amelia in her new car seat! she was STOKED. she smiled & giggled & flapped her arms & legs the entire 5 minute car ride.

we laundered money by buying gift cards at giant eagle (a grocery store, for all you idahoans) & being part of their 'card club' gives us money off of gas. last week i filled up the tank for FREE! just for buying gift cards for things we already buy. does that make sense? anyway, we call it the gerbickian money laundering scheme. brilliant. ANYWAY.

amelia seems to have suddenly grown up this past week. it's amazing to see the differences. i think we're just more shocked than sad at this point. she is fully mobile on all fours, but you knew that already. she's pulling up on things & you knew that. but what you didn't know is that today she started to toddle around! you know, by grabbing ahold of something, like an ottoman or the water table (outside plastic sink-ish thing that i highly recommend getting for a preschooler & toddler). then she's putting a spoon in her mouth (with nothing on it, of course...but this is a purposeful move on her part). she's holding her own bottle if given the chance (meaning we flail our hands around & sing "you hold it, amelia, i can't hold it. then she looks at me very closely & puts her wee hands around the bottle). i won't go into any more detail, but the gist is: amelia is ready to grow up. "enough of this baby stuff"

slide! (notice the tongue sticking out; for concentration?)

me looking chipper (btw: i found this dress last night at ann taylor loft for $25! oh yea)

swing!

is this not a cute kid?!

sneeze!

& why is addy sneezing? well, our luck has ended. all 3 girls have come down with a cold. a nose-dripping, sore throat-burning, super-sneezing virus. UGH. amelia has it the worse by far. poor wee one, teething & sick. addy wouldn't give me a goodnight kiss tonight b/c of the kleenex stuffed up my nose (at least my nose isn't dripping all over the place, which was happening just prior to the kleenex nose plugs).

this is a memorial in a park down the street (where we took the 5 minute car ride to). it has a flag for each military person who is/has been from westerville. or at least that's how i understood it! anyway, i think there's around 2,000 flags flappin' around.

it was pretty impressive to see this, esp when you drive by it. so many flags. when we walked through them tonight, i started to get a bit weepy reading the messages on some of the cards attached to eat flag, naming the service man/woman who it represents. more than a dozen or so that i read were about those killed while in combat/deployed (some going back to WW1, but still!).

as some of you may know, i align myself more with the liberal view of things...but one thing i am very adamant about is supporting the military & soldiers. (not that liberals don't, but it seems that is the idea going around by some...*ahem* my brother, lol!). my view of the military just may have something to do with my brother, who was in the army special forces & deployed to iraq for 18 months! but i also think what these soldiers give up--possibly their life--is amazingly brave/heroic/awe-inspiring. sometimes i just stop during the day & think to myself that there is a war going on right now (two wars?) & here i am, doing my daily thing.

when my brother was deployed i was working some crappy call center job (during college, ya know?) & i had been sick on & off that summer so i took most of my sick days & vacation days (b/c i was sick with strep throat nearly constantly! ugh). so when i asked to have a non-paid day off to see my brother off to iraq, the wouldn't give it to me! i had to just call it off, risking getting fired (thankfully my supervisor really liked me & talked the higher-ups out of it). my point is that it seems a good majority of americans don't even think about the losses military folks go through. not just death, but the actual missing of a family member for so long. the anxiety that goes along with being in a war, then waiting for your loved one to call/write, then coming home...there's so much that non-military folks don't think about & if you've never known someone close to you who's been deployed, you may not understand. but we should!

i guess what i'm trying to say is that especially during a war time, shouldn't every day be memorial day? veterans day? do we have to be reminded?

amelia playing in the water table.

today wes & i were trying to put our mulch out & adeline was being very very naughty & spent nearly half of her life this morning in time out. i couldn't take it anymore, so off we went to babies r us to buy a water table. & her AND amelia are smitten with their new toy.

i also purchased them a bubble blower machine-thingy. very snazzy.

the two girlies getting along! playing with each other! amazing.

amelia followed me wherever i went in the yard. under the swing, through the dirt & grass. around dog poo. everywhere.

gazing at the fluttering bubbles. pure childhood joy.

is amelia floating away? :o)

& that is our smarty-pants trying to eat a bubble. her face said "gross" once she caught it.

& this is the first day for bathing suits this year. although, i couldn't find (until just 2 minutes ago) addy's from her first summer--meaning amelia's now-- so we squeezed millie into this 2 piece 0-3 month bathing suit. poor kid, i thought her head was going to pop off.

amelia found our basket of pine cones (from christmas! i know, i know, lazy) & she was ecstatic about this discovery & made a very big mess indeed. at least it forced us to do something about the basket of pine cones, eh?

& this was only one day! we have two more parties/bbq's to attend this weekend...should be fun!

& now wes & i are going to have a home brew under the hop hut (his version of heaven-on-earth, my version of being eaten alive my mosquitoes *smile*)

birthday post #2: becky parsons!

today is also my dear & far away friend, becky's, birthday. if i was in idaho, i would take you out for lunch, becky-friend! (asiago's?!)

for those who don't know her, becky is in the middle.


let me tell you, folks, this is maybe the sweetest friend i have. sweet, as in, nice, kind, thoughtful, calming, positive, etc etc. becky is like a vortex that you just get drawn into, if that makes sense. you will just want to hang out with her, get to know her, have her on your side.

i have a few stories about becky to share!

the first one just recently happened. so i'm sure everyone, if you are a long time reader, remembers the hell of the gerbick family winter of illness, right (which is what i have titled last winter)? well, on one particularly bad week, a package was delivered to our door. 'hhmm, that's odd, i thought, i didn't order anything.' i open it up to see a ginormous round of cheese & a note in the invoice says something so SWEET from becky & her hubby bill; something along the lines of "you've had such a rough winter, i wanted to let you know i'm thinking of you & hope this helps make your day better"...i immediately starting to cry b/c how amazingly sweet, right?! but this is just becky. she is so-so-so kind & thoughtful. btw: the cheese was from bill's alma mater, which i don't' remember right now! egads! anyway, it was a sweet basil monterrey jack & was DELICIOUS. i savored every single bite of it...it was hard to share with addy, who also loves cheese. good with grapes, in quesadillas, on sandwiches...i could go on & on. it was so yumma-lo-so.

she also sent me a birthday card last year. wow! (to put this straight: my parents hardly even get birthday cards from me...so friends, i'm sorry, sending out cards is not my strong suit, *frown*). anyway, this lady is simply amazing. she is a mom of all moms, holding her wee girl close to her so she is safe & loved. she is a dear friend who loves on those who have even moved 2,000 miles away. she is a rockin' wife who makes a beautiful home for her family & husband (including amazing food, did i mention what a great cook & baker she is?!!!). & now i also know that she is pretty buff from all her work at the gym (if you don't know becky, she is a WOW petite knock-out)...i see a friend who knows things; like how she feels about politics, life, children, god, truth, honesty, friendship, beauty. she may be petite, but the might of her is powerful & large; a beautiful, sweet force to be dealt with.

the other story is from my going away night out with the boise-gal crowd. it was a week or so before we were moving. i was sad to be leaving this group of friends i had...so party it up we did! i was still nursing addy at this point (she was around 8 months, i think) & hadn't had more than a few drops of alcohol for, geez, nearly 18 months?? so the girls took me out. we got fake tattoos (i am SO terrified of needles) & after just one round of drinks, i was tipsy. anyway, we were hanging out in the boise downtown (which totally rocks, btw, so much better than columbus, sadly) & were at my favorite restaurant, asiago's. i ordered a bottle of wine & as it was poured all around, becky turned hers down, quietly. all eyes were immediately on her b/c becky is in no way a lush, but she does drink wine, right? which could mean only ONE thing: pregnancy?! the smiles & goo-goos erupted & becky meekly says 'yes, i'm pregnant!' & then the congrats are flying & becky of course accepts them...then she turns the focus back on wes & i leaving. i was astounded! she is so thoughtful to not want all the attention on her during my going-away party...which i totally was willing to share the spotlight (remember: heidi is shy?!). anyway, at the end of the night, i totally could not drive & this was only after 2 1/2 drinks! so i had to be driven home by another friend who lived close to me, but we had to get the car seat out of my car so we could come get my car the next day (with adeline in the car, so car seat was needed). we COULD NOT get it out?! i don't remember exactly why, but i think it has something to do with all the ladies being a bit tipsy *smile* so i thought up a not-so-brilliant-but-seemed-brilliant-at-the-time plan: have becky sit in the car seat so that would loosen up the straps --somehow--??? but she did it & she even fit in it! seriously, but it cracked us all up, let me tell ya. didn't work, though. i forget how we got the car seat out...but i do remember the sigh of becky sitting in the car seat; that i will never forget.

another way to describe becky: determined. there is this glowy memory i have & it involves becky's herb garden tour. she had the tiniest chives growing from seed in her soil/garden by her house. & she was going to make them live! i loved it. not that i haven't had dozens of plants die, trust me, i've killed off more than my fair share...anyway, she was so excited about them. i guess her joy just made me so excited for her & bill, in their new house that was perfect for them.

i dunno what else to say. i miss you?! i'm so glad we were able to share some memories. i often think that if i still lived in boise, we would have 3 little girls playing together at least once a week & that makes me sad that they are missing out on that, as are we. anyway, happy birthday, my friend! i hope your day is filled with good things.

birthday post #1...my father in law!

happy birthday, bruce!

one thing i know for certain about my father in law, is that he is very dedicated & loyal to whatever he makes a commitment to, especially family. i have never seen a son treat his mother as continuously kind & soft as bruce is with his mom. (well, okay, except for how my hubby is with his own mom, lol). he also does this with his grand babies & sons...if there is anything he can get to help make our lives easier, bruce will be there with it.

& once his first grandchild arrived, you could see the interest growing in the newly titled grandpa bruce...he now does everything except change the diaper! & when we are able to visit them in avon lake, addy is oh-so-excited to jump out & give her grandpa bruce 'grinders', something that he came up with while his sons were little...it is a neck tickle of sorts. anyway, addy really enjoys playing with her grandpa & already she associates him with motorcycles (when one goes by she sometimes yells out "GMPA! OOOHHH"). i just hope there's not a story that goes along with it somewhere, like "my grandpa bruce took me on my first motorcycle ride at the age of 18 months" sort of story *wink*. which would probably be similar to the 'grandpa bruce gave me my first sip of lemonade at the age of 3 months' which is a true statement that nearly made me fall off my chair when it happened...but now makes me only laugh. i don't know if adeline likes lemonade after that attempt *smile*

during my first year of marriage (with wes, of course!) i was astounded with bruce's generosity & interest in not only our cars (which he sold us, as he is a car dealer), but also in our jobs, plans for the future, vacation habits, & also our yard (somehow the dandelions always seem to pop up right before he comes for a visit, lol). not that my parents & father aren't like this!, but bruce has such an earnest desire to ensure we are on the right path...in a good way. he has done everything in his ability to give his sons opportunities in life, even if that included him working 60-70 hours a week for nearly 2 decades.

b/c of bruce, i was finally able to go on (two!) cruises to the caribbean with wes & we were also able to see wes' brother & sister in law get married b/c he knew we couldn't afford it, but that we should be there. sometimes i chuckle & think of bruce as the "don of the family" sort of thing--which may be true, now that i think of it, as he is sicilian, hhmm??--& he sits in front of the tv, both watching the tv & then also knowing exactly what is going on in each of his kids' families' lives, helping & giving advice & always being there asking if we need anything, how things are going...lol, but he is not scary, folks.

then there's always the 'homemade vacation movies' to watch...oh my. they are helpful when it comes to getting a general idea of what their most recent vacation was like, but at times it seems we see the ground more often than the sights? they are classic, though, & are a good timeline of their lives.

one more thing to say about bruce: he's a walking tv guide! it's truly amazing.

uuuhhh, what?

that's what i thought this morning as i sat amelia on my lap, "uuhh, what?" as in, why is my lap soaking wet? all morning i have been noticing these spots of wetness on the floor. they are smeared a bit, so i just assumed they were griswold's spots where he lovingly licked the floor of something dog-worthy. but this wet spot on my lap was unavoidable & odd. i then assumed that amelia had again peed out of her diaper & started to wonder if we were giving her too much liquids b/c she keeps peeing her diaper full, then peeing her pants totally wet, etc. so i put her on the floor to investigate the diaper situation & this is what i find:

yes, that would be amelia WITHOUT a diaper! lmao!! my dear hubby is a great daddy & husband. he got up with amelia this morning just a few minutes before 6 a.m. (her wake up time for the past week) & i'm not sure when the diaper change took place, but when i checked this is what nearly 9 a.m. amelia was soaked, from toes to her chin. even her bib smelled like pee! poor kid!
i then called wes & told him & as he was cracking up laughing i also told him that he should expect the mop to be waiting for him at lunch time (b/c all those 'griswold lick spots' are actually 'amelia pee spots'), yes just another day in paradise with another story to chuckle over.

wait, another milestone amelia has hit: pulling herself up! she did it for wes this morning, bright & early. then she did it again for me on the ottoman (right before i discovered the no diaper morning), & then she nearly rocketed herself out of the crib. thankfully i was near the door & my memory was instantly attuned to the sound of a baby rattling the crib, ready to launch from addy's days in the crib. sure enough, i open the door to see amelia trying desperately to pull herself over the crib rail (she was standing & the railing hit her about waist high). egads! she is growing up like lightning. addy took forever to grow up & amelia seems to be on the fast track...i think i'm ready for it. below is a picture wes took right after amelia pulled herself up to explore the slide.

addy reading her new favorite book (garage sale find for $.25!!) "going on a bear hunt" & when we read it the story is usually accompanied with a beat of slapping our hands on our legs. i remember doing this in preschool, actually, & have sung this to addy before. but now, NOW we have the book! & it's her favorite this week.

amelia, learning from her friendly dog, griswold ("amelia, if you are using all 4 paws, just stick it in your mouth to carry something. mouths are so useful"). if you look closely, you just might see some pee streaks trailing behind amelia. lol.

adeline, the brave one, sticking her fingers in amelia's mouth to feel her new tooth. i can see it now: CHOMP! crying. "addy has a boo-boo".

self explanatory.

what other news? addy has somehow managed to get 4 boo-boos in the past two days, including her first splinter. i am not about to dig it out quite yet...i remember the first time i dug out my own splinter for the first time. i was so proud & ran to tell my dad "i pulled out my own splinter!" & he responded with an appropriate amount of enthusiasm (maybe b/c he didn't have to sit there & dig it out for me, as i cried & writhed around?). anyway, addy & boo-boos don't go well together. it seems just this week she has discovered that these boo-boos hurt & blood trickling down your leg/arm/etc isn't necessarily a funny thing anymore.

& i need a hair cut something fierce!

stories from the 'hood

in response to judy's blog post ( http://judycrawford.blogspot.com/2009/05/bikeseat-and-bambinos.html ) requesting a blog picture dialogue of gardens, i have gobs of garden pictures to share. i am really into getting a blog 'dialogue' going, so even if you don't know judy, go ahead & do it! i hope lots of folks do this...i am curious about gardens, i guess. & i really enjoy gardening & looking at the flowers, blooms, veggies, & wondering when i can dead head the dying blooms. maybe i even enjoy working in the gardens more than looking at them? i do know that when i get to walk outside, pick something from the herb or veggie gardens & then take it inside to eat...i feel very satisfied with our work & also the food.
the one problem i have with gardening is that i can't remember names of plants very well. or not at all? i have some stored in my mind, but most of those in my flower beds, well i have no clue half the time. even the veggies...i can tell you what it is, but not what breed or however you would say it.

so this first one is of a flower...but what is it? anyone know?! it sprang up this spring.

corral bells, love 'em.

greens in the odd shaped bed.
mint in the triangular bed.
lilies, irises & lavender in the side patio bed.

this is a repeating bed of corral bells, brown-eyed susans, forget-me-nots, phlox, & some ground cover that i really don't know the name of (most of these are from my mother in law...thanks, sue!)

our main veggie garden. tomatoes, 3 types of onions, peppers & marigolds to keep some pesty animals out (worked so far in this bed). past the veggies would be my lilac tree/bush that hardly blooms anything...grrr. & more iris/lilies.

strawberries!

azalea, random odd stuff (garlic chives? wild flowers?) a few rose bushes, hop hut with 6 hop varieties.

asparagus! we planted 15 crowns & so far 17 shoots have come up! yum yum.

my 3 tiered herb garden filled with the basics: lemon verbena, thyme, parsley, catnip, bee/lemon balm, chamomile (mine hasn't taken over at all like judy's...), 3 types of basil, cumin, chives, garlic, egyptian walking onions). i think that's it...

side of the house 3 tier garden with vine veggie plants. too many to tell! this is the garden that the varmint ate most of the starts. wes replanted with seeds...but he's still sad. *frown*

side of the front flower bed with lamb's ear & hostas, & an assortment of smaller things. also in there is the bird bath i bought wes last year. the lovebirds, of course, represent wes & i! of course!

the work-in-progress-flower bed. *sigh* this is in the very front of our yard & it smacks up to our neighbor's BEAUTIFUL garden. *bigger sigh*

hostas & sweet woodruff.

allysum, shasta daisies, rhododendron, grasses, etc.

in case you haven't noticed, we are doing an all white & green front yard...it is much more difficult than anticipated, but when we do get it filled in, i'm envisioning stylin' front yard gardens!

clematis! this is one of my 10 favorite plants. i love it!

the front with clematis, white violets, grasses, a grape tomato plant in a pot, mums, hollyhocks, roses, & some other things my mom just recently gave me (all with white or green blooms). & there's a few plants in there that i don't know the names of. yeppers.

& that is the gerbickian gardens. i hope you enjoyed your tour.

******

so if you read judy's comment from yesterday's post about addy's toilet issue yesterday...i totally forgot! here it is: adeline, amelia, & i were in the family bathroom at the polaris mall, which is great b/c it's just one big bathroom with a wee toilet, adult toilet, wee sink, adult sink, & then a very large changing table area. so adeline had just peed in her toilet & i in mine & poor little amelia was crawling on the bathroom floor b/c remember i had forgotten the stroller--wait, that was the first time we went to this bathroom. this time amelia was still in the stroller. still, the had crawled around that nasty bathroom floor...what was i to do? ICK! (what they are missing in this family bathroom is the child restraint seat. ah-ha!). anyway, i was washing my hands & changing amelia's diaper & pants b/c somehow she was totally soaked (okay, not somehow...she had peed so much her diaper was leaking, yea, bad mom alert one more time, lol). anyway, i look over just as addy was leaning into the adult toilet seat, her hair falling into the water. i screeched for her to STOP! & she just kept going, peering into the toilet bowl b/c it kept flushing b/c it was the automatic flusher kind. anyway, she basically gave herself a swirly in the toilet water. really gross, eh? & come to think of it, since i totally forgot about it, she didn't get her hair washed last night & continued sucking on her hair (her new habit, hair sucking/chewing) yesterday & today. yuck. & we wonder why our girls keep getting sick? lol!

also today, amelia crawled from our living room, through the hallway, into the dining room, & went to her favorite spot: in front of the sliding glass door where she proceeded to bang bang bang on it until i noticed that she *apparently* wanted to go outside. it just shocks me how well she's crawling right now. & her top left tooth is in...yea! now one more to go & hopefully we will have some time off before the next set start. can you say s-l-e-e-p is needed here?