Playing catch-up

Life has been a bit busy the last couple of weeks with starting my new job so I haven't had much spare time.  Today was my first day on my own and I think I am finally starting to feel comfortable and did pretty good.  As I haven't ridden the MAX or bus in many years, commuting has been a bit entertaining at times but overall has been good and glad to not have to pay to park.

Ethan has been having a fun time with Grammie and we are all hoping that the rain will start to let up some as we are all anxious to be playing outside.

The weekend before I started my new job, while Jeff was driving my mom to Portland, Ethan and I took a second adventure riding the bus/MAX/Tram to make sure I new the route to get to work.  Ethan loved the adventure and we took a picture while riding down the tram.  Saturday/Sunday market is now back open as well so we stopped for an elephant ear on our way home, one of Ethan's favs.

For St. Patrick's day Ethan came home with his Leprechaun costume mask that he had made in school (see previous posting).  He then decided that he needed to make some additional masks/costumes and has since been obsessed with the tape, scissors, cheap paper plates, lunch sacks, notebook paper, and pipe cleaners.  We have had many, many creations the last 3 weeks.

 Here are some of his artistic creations...he has some great skills and really puts a lot of thought into his creations,

 

including this car that he built with Playdoh earlier today...again, lots of thought put into all the details of building it.

 

Luck of the Irish!!

St. Patrick's Day fun at school for Ethan and then the Shamrock 5k run for me today...legs are tired but glad that I did it. 

Life will be a changin'...

The past nearly 5 years of being a SAHM/self-employed medical transcriptionist so I could be home with Ethan have been a great adventure and one I will truly miss, however, as he will be starting kindergarten in September, and hopefully full-day depending on what school we decide to put him in, I decided that I wanted a change of pace...along with the help of one of the transcription companies I work for no longer having work for me beginning in April...so I began looking and applied for some positions with OHSU, aka "the hill," aka the university hospital in the Portland area.  Thankfully and surprisingly, I got a call for a phone interview much faster than I was expecting and this past week I went for an interview, a 2nd interview with the staff, and on Thursday got an offer.  Even though it was much earlier than I was expecting to do this, I figured I needed to jump at the chance if there was an opening so I accepted the position and will be doing front office work for a clinic on the OHSU campus.  Unfortunately, life will definitely have many changes upcoming and I am very much appreciative of my mom's willingness to come spend the next few months with us and taking care of Ethan so that I could do this.  Ethan is extremely excited that Grammie is coming and they will have a very fun summer together, one I am sad to be missing.  

New sleeping digs

Ethan is very excited to get to sleep in his new loft bed tonight.  He is growing up quickly and has a small room so we are making the most of the space we do have. It will be a great bed for him, the only down fall so far has been trying to make the bed, which will definitely be a workout for me. *Update*  The first night was a success.  He told me this morning that he slept awesome. 

Soaking up the sun!!

Today we had to take advantage of a perfect SUNNY 60 degree day and Peyton, Olivia and Nicole joined us for a picnic at the park.  The boys played, Nicole and I chatted, and Olivia was just her cute self... the only way to make it a more perfect day would have been for both Nicole and I not to have to go to work but it was fun while it lasted. 

 BFF's...they act just like brothers.

 I got my arm workout in today while pushing both boys in the swings.

And tonight was a beautiful full moon....which also means the crazies are in full craziness...but a worth a picture anyhow.

Green eggs and Ham..Sam I am

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! 

They have been learning about Dr. Seuss at school this week and will celebrate his birthday at school tomorrow so of course we had to have Green Eggs as a tribute.

 
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose." ~Dr. Seuss

A monkey he will always be...

 

This past weekend & week have been a mixed bag of weather so in the few minutes that it was sunny on Monday we took advantage of playing sports in the front yard and climbing the tree.

Libra

Rarely do I actually ever read my horoscope as most of the time it is some random array of words that in no way pertain to whatever is going on at the time, but it caught my attention today so I thought I would share it. Currently there are several things that we are waiting on, working on, and crossing our fingers for at our house so whether this pertains to any of them will remain to be seen but either way it made me wonder.

Libra's Horoscope  

(Sep 23 - Oct 22)

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - You may experience relief when you realize how many options are available today. Ironically, your newly found freedom of choice can stabilize your current situation because you don't feel as trapped as you thought you were. However, you really don't need to make any major decisions now. Keeping multiple paths open as long as possible enables you to be better informed before making a commitment.

Catching up

Haven't had much free time recently for blogging but wanted to share a few pictures, a conversation with Ethan, zoo trip today and a recipe of yummy tortilla soup. 

This past Sunday Ethan's best buddy, Petyon, turned 5.  We celebrate with the Springer/Prazeau family with a Lego themed party and a yummy taco buffet dinner made by Nicole.  Ethan had a great time celebrating with Peyton and Olivia.  And the cute Miss Olivia just had to give Ethan lots of love...might have to watch out for her.  We were all laughing so much with her continual love that only pictures from the back were taken but it was so cute.

For V-day, Ethan made Jeff and I a valentine at school.  He was very proud of what he had made us and it is currently displayed at my desk. 

Also earlier this week, Mommy was telling Ethan that we have so many boys at our house that mommy is really outnumbered.  Ethan then replied, "well, mommy needs to have a girl dog then." I laughed and said, "no, we don't need any more dogs here" and then said, "I already had a girl dog named Peaches and she was now up in Heaven with God."  Thinking for a few minutes, Ethan than said, "why is she in Heaven?" to which I replied, "well, she was sick and so she passed away."  Thinking some more, he then said, "we could build a wooden ladder to go up to heaven and bring her back."  Jeff and I both giggled a little and then replied with, "well, I bet she is happy living with God, and is running, and playing, and feeling all better so she should probably stay there, plus, where would we get all the wood to build the ladder?"  He then got a smile on his face and loudly replied, "Papa Steve will have all the wood we need to build our ladder."  So we then called Papa Steve to see if we could borrow some wood to build our ladder and we all had a great laugh.  If only it were that easy, huh?  His innocence is so precious and some days it would be really nice to have such a ladder, as there are several missed people and dogs that we would all love to visit with. 

Today we met Nicole, Peyton and Olivia at the zoo to take advantage of a wet-free day.  It was a bit cool but nice to be outside.  The boys were nonstop runners and at times both Mommy's were tired of yelling there names, but hopefully they got some of there energy worked out plus we got a few cute pictures while there. 

 What would we have done without the tractor as the main attraction at the zoo?

And finally, I started following a site called Crockin' Girls though their link on FB.  Earlier this week I tried a new recipe of theirs for Chicken Tortilla soup.  It turned out really good but talk about a massive quantity of food.  Not sure how I could cut the recipe in half, as there are canned ingredients, but hopefully it freezes well.  The recipe is posted below.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2-3 cups of raw chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces or smaller if desired
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 (14.5-ounce) cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 can cheddar cheese soup
2 cups carrots (we used the "carrot chips" that are cut like pickles, and cut them in half)
1/2 bag frozen corn or 1 can of corn drained and rinsed
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
Cilantro (we just chopped up a handful), optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

**I also added:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed 
1 can olives, chopped

Garnishes: 
Avocados cut into small bites
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker, except for the garnishes... cook on HIGH for about 5-6 hours or on LOW for about 8 hours. Ladle into bowls and top each serving with avocado, cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.

Another round of funnies...

Last weekend, Ethan and I joined the Springer/Prazeau families to celebrate Miss Olivia Springer (his best buddy, Petyon's, sister) turning 1.  This picture was taken at the party.

Our boy has a contagious and energetic personality and keeps us continually laughing with his moves like Jagger and one-liners.  Over the past few weeks he has had some really doozies so I wanted to make sure I wrote them down.

*I was asking Ethan what he wanted to eat for dinner one night to which he replied, "you'll have to provide me with a menu."

*One of Ethan's newest food wants has become scrambled eggs.  He also wants to help make it so earlier this week he was "helping" to make his egg and at the same time I was looking in a cookbook on the counter next to him.  While stirring his eggs, he turned to me and said, "Daddy doesn't have to read a menu to cook an egg!"

*After eating the above written egg, Ethan got down from the table and had left his plate on the table while going to talk to Daddy.  Charlie of course jumped up to see if he had any leftovers to share to which Daddy told Charlie to get down.  Ethan then ran to get his plate and said, "Charlie is eating my food, thank you, Charlie," and then gave him a hug.  (probably the only time he will get a hug for doing that)

*Ethan and his nonstop characters...you can't help but have a smile while trying to guess...earlier this week he was wearing his batman costume, mask and all, along with his Lightening McQueen slippers and told us that he was Optimus Prime, the transformer.  Of course Jeff and I should have known that based on his slippers having wheels...right?!? 

*Me:  Ethan, are you ready for lunch?
 Ethan:  No, not yet, I have to save the day first.  (as he is putting on his Batman costume after changing out of school clothes)

* While watching the BCS Ducks game, E says my team always wins...J asks him who his team is thinking he is going to say a color, E replies... It's the ducks!

Taking Riley on a bike ride to the park.

Ethan dancing after making his own music on his keyboard (you'll want to go to the bottom and push pause on my background music to hear the video)

Sorry this is sideways so tilt your head...but we, thankfully, were the only people in TacoTime while he was doing his moves.

One of my favorites!!! A song about yoda playing his gumtar and mom & daddy.