Stan Berenstain 1923-2005

Stan Berenstain, co-author of Helena's favorite book series died today. When Lisa mentioned it she asked if the cartoon was still going to be on in the morning. We told her all the books and TV shows he made will still be there but he won't be able to make anything new. I nearly went into an explanation about the whole when someone dies we still have the memories of them but no one said every time you have a teachable moment you have to use it.

Ava Gardner reincarnation?

I ran across what seems like a pretty neat site where you upload one of your pictures and some fancy face recognition software compares it to the faces of famous people.

It seems Megan and Ava Gardner are a 65% match.

yeah, I'd say they need to do a bit more work. But fun no less. Give it a try. Who does it say you look like? I'll add the rest of our faces later today.

edit well I had hoped to check out the rest of our faces but seems the site got real popular and now it just crawls. We'll try again some other time. :(

Sunday night eats.

Mmmm Thanksgiving leftovers. As long as it's pumpkin pie, we certainly don't mind the leftovers. But what of the extra 8 pounds of turkey that nobody wanted to eat on Thanksgiving day? Surely it will be more appealing days later, right? Anyone?

Personally I was never that big of a turkey fan and tossing a slice between two pieces of bread doesn't make it anymore appetizing. But here's an idea that doesn't sound too bad...

Turkey Ruebens
Arrange slices of turkey, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing between two slices of rye bread. Lightly spread butter on outside of bread. Fry on both sides until cheese melts.

Movie night

Just a few weeks ago we became one of the last people on Earth to sign up with Netflix*. Not having a TiVo or a dish or a the desire to have a $70+ a month cable bill we finally broke down and joined the seemingly billions of others already addicted to the service.
One complaint, we spent about two days just browsing through the catalog adding movies to our queue. Man, there are a lot of movies out there. One of the things we had in mind was catching up on all the TV series that are now on DVD. Which I'm sure we'll do but Man, there are a lot of movies out there.

This all leads up to one of the movies we got around to watching tonight. Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior. If you like martial art movies then you'll like the movie. Not as purposefully goofy as Jackie Chan movies but this isn't a film that takes itself too seriously (I hope). The stunt are pretty good and the fights certainly inspire many ohhhs and owwws and apparently Ong-Bak is Thai for elbow to the head.
Be forewarned the movie is subtitled and it ain't no Crouching Tiger. Just a fun evening of Tony Jaa jumping through spools of barbed wire and elbowing bad guys on the head.

*Yes, I've got an ad for Netflix on the left and yes they do compensate me for getting people to sign up to there service. But it's still a fun movie and netflix is cool. Even cooler when they send me a check.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A little perspective.

Suffering the idiocy of the mob at the local super market can be trying. And the bias of total strangers can put you on the defensive about your choice in life, but there is nothing like the misfortune of others to make you appreciate how easy you have it.

"I'll just change her diaper and get her back to sleep", I naively thought to myself. Within a few feet of her room, I notice the light has been turned on and there's a distinctive odor in the air, a unique blend of Nathan's Famous All Beef Franks and rotting flesh. I opened the door to the most horrific sight my eyes have displeasure of gazing upon...

Read the rest of Jeff's hilarious pitiful tale here. Remember the story next time it seems you're having a bad day.

Dear stranger at the grocery store,

Just wanted to write a quick note of thanks to the random stranger at the grocery store. As we passed in the isle you remarked, "Not as easy as it looks, huh?"

Wow, some assumption. Obviously a man shopping with two small kids would have no idea the challenges involved. Its obvious that a man would be overwhelmed with the responsibility of not only caring for kids but shopping as well! It must have been shocking that both the girls seemed happy and healthy. No doubt I must have just bribed them with promises of candy at the check-out counter. Thank you for reminding me to explain to my kids that someone's gender has very little with what they can do and be as an adult. Yes, only boys can grow up and be daddies and only girls can grow up to be mommies, but staying home with kids can be a job for either mommies or daddies.

And while I'm on the subject of grocery stores and on a rant- what is it with people stopping their cart in the very middle of the isle blocking everyone? Do all those colorful cereal boxes dumbfound you and make you forget some common courtesy? Are you too lost in thought deciding between Some Pulp, and No Pulp OJ to notice people trying to get by you? Maybe you're just an idiot. Whatever the reason, would you please just move your cart out of the way.

And on the subject of carts, our local market now has the nifty race car styled carts with room to buckle up two kids. What a phenomenal idea. It works out great for those of us hauling around two kids - or at least it would if you and your one kid didn't take the last one. Hope little Billy's invisible friend is comfortable sitting next to him because I know that bag of potatoes one of my kids is resigned to sit on feels like big ol' pillow.

Ah, I love grocery shopping during the holidays

Our cup overfloweth

The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
So we sat in the house
All that cold, cold, wet day.

It's pouring today. Buckets of rain. Wonderful way to start the week.
When the girls get tired of chasing each other around the house or building towers of blocks and crashing them down or tormenting petting the cats - one of their favorite activities is drawing and painting.
Helena's artwork sometimes looks like it's actually a picture of something, Megan is still very much into the abstract style. They are both prolific artist though. We have stacks and stacks and stacks of their creations on colored construction paper. Our cup overfloweth. We're swimming in pictures. We can't of course throw them away (at least while they're looking) so if anyone would like some original works by the girls, drop us and e-mail and we'll get some out to you.
Never know, they might be collector items one day.....

Sunday night eats.

Ahhh, that time of year when the nights are long, the mornings are brisk, the trees are nearly bare and football is on TV. Best of all, no one yet has their Christmas decorations out.
It is nearly turkey time so I'd like to share the a real family recipe.

Suenell's Cranberry Salad

1 lb Cranberries chopped in food processor
1 Orange - sliced, seeded and run through the processor (yes orange peel and all)
1 cup chopped apples
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped pecans
1 28oz can of crushed pineapple, drained
1 large package of Raspberry Jello
1.5 cups of sugar
5 oz tiny marshmallows (optional)

Prepare Jello according to direction on box except use one cup less of water. Mix the sugar into the cranberries. Stir in the apple, celery, and nuts. When the jello is half set add all the other ingredients saving the marshmallows for last. Gently fold in the marshmallows and allow the salad to set over night.

This recipe comes from Lisa's paternal Grandmother (or should I say Grandlady...) Suenell. It was just three years ago last month that she passed away. She was an exceptional lady that I'm sorry I didn't have the opportunity to get to know better. Do yourselves a favor and call up some family member you haven't spoken to in awhile and catch up with them. Family recipes like this one taste so much better when you have some memories to go along with them.

Caption contest

A thousand and one things come to mind seeing this picture. It is just begging for a good caption. Anyone want to start?

Primetime

Wow. Both Lisa and I can now say we're graduates of UNC-Wilmington - as seen on TV.

Officials at UNC-Wilmington have contacted students, parents, faculty, staff and alumni about a nationally televised news segment about the murders of two students last year. University spokeswoman Mimi Cunningham says the university didn't want the community to be surprised by the show. Cunningham says school officials also wanted to make sure the community knew about the new programs and safety measures.

We're not going to bother watching the show - two murders, tragic yes but a segment on National TV? Must be a slow news week.

edit: It was just pointed out to me that ABC's Primetime site, no longer has anything about the UNCW story (Anna Nicole had nothing to do with the murders as far as I know). If you are really curious about the story you can read more about it here.

Kids Say the...Well, You Know the Drill

Okay, so I know that we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time talking about what our kids do, but hey - that is what this whole blog is about (occassional political commentary aside).

So, this evening we noted that the hard freeze that is going to occur tonight will stop the maturation of the peppers we are growing. Then Tom talked a little about how he would love to grow more peppers next year (we got a crop of about 3 peppers from our plants this year). He has this idea of making our own salsa, even though he is not a big fan of the stuff. Helena chimed in with, "Oh yes, then we wouldn't have to get the 'tobacco' sauce for Mom!" Much laughter followed. (For those of you not familiar, I am a big fan of Tobasco Sauce - I could pretty much put in on any food to complete the flavor experience!)

A little while later, as she was playing, she sat down on one of several larger balls that we own. She started bouncing and talking about what kind of "Hip Hop" she was riding (she had received a Hippity Hop last year for Christmas that has a covering to make it look like a horse).

While all this was going on, Megan took that big developmental step of trying to ride on something very, very, very small. I think we have discussed previously how very small children have no sense of their size in comparison to objects around them. Tonight, Megan tried to ride on a toy elephant that stands about 1.5 - 2.0 inches tall. Helena used to try to slide down a toy slide made for toy people that stood about 2 inches. She tried over and over again, just not understanding why it wasn't fun!

Look who's' Talking

It was several months ago Megan said her first word - "Helena". Of course it came out more like "nay-na" but hey cut her some slack alright. For awhile she picked up a word or so every week that could be understood in her babbling but recently... My goodness! She's talking. Not necessarily clearly, but talking. You can almost see the light clicking on in her head as she grokked that those sounds coming out of her mouth match up to things in the world.

Last night we were sitting around after dinner and Megan brought a book from her room, handed it to Lisa and clear as a bell said "Book!"

We're it not to the teething and the whole not being able to handle when she doesn't get her way and the increasingly stinky diapers this might be the neatest age.

(You'll notice I was vague on the dates of her first words - I checked out Megan's baby book to look up exactly when her first words occurred.... Yeah about that.. Seems someone has forgot to update that thing. Sorry Megan)

Throwing their own words back at them

(For those disgusted already by everything Washington, you may just want to just visit my archives instead of reading further. Don't worry we'll return to our normal material by morning)

"The President and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone - but we are not going to sit by and let them rewrite history. We are going to continue throwing their own words back at them."

-Dick Cheney November 16, 2005

Oh, okay Mr. Vice President. Let's talk a moment about politicians losing their memories, shall we?

"I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session. The first time I ever met you [Sen. Edwards] was when you walked on this stage tonight."

-Dick Cheney October 5, 2004

Feburary 1, 2001

"On Feb. 1, 2001, the vice president thanked Edwards by name at a Senate prayer breakfast and sat beside him during the event." [AP, 10/6/04]

"On April 8, 2001, Cheney and Edwards shook hands when they met off-camera during a taping of NBCs ‘Meet the Press, moderator Tim Russert said Wednesday on Today." [AP, 10/6/04]

"On Jan. 8, 2003, the two met when the first-term North Carolina senator accompanied Elizabeth Dole to her swearing-in by Cheney as a North Carolina senator." [AP, 10/6/04]

And of course according to the Congressial record, Mr. Cheney at the time had presided over the Senate twice.

Of course I would not imply the Vice President was being intentially dishonest. Maybe he's just forgetful. Maybe like many in the administration they just misunderstand truth.

A wise man once said "Fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. Fool me ...— you can't get fooled again."

You've got mail!

Yesterday the girls and I were across the street playing with the neighbors. The mailman came by and Wren (the neighbor) offhandedly complained, "bills,bills, bills".
So this morning Helena being her empathic self decides she's going to make a "letter" for her so she can have something besides bills. She scribbles writes a quick note on some paper and I help her stuff it into an envelope and I address it and after the mailman came by today we dropped it in their mailbox (yes I know that's a violation of the postal law and I beg the court for mercy).

We returned from the grocery store this afternoon and saw Wren and her kids outside and she came over to give Helena a hug. She said it made her smile and they've got the "note" on the fridge.

Random acts of kindness from a four year old. Yes at times she makes me want to pull my hair out. At times I have to grit my teeth and repeat the mantra, "I love my children no matter what they do". And then there are the times she just makes me glad to be her papa.

Dental Adventure

This morning Helena and I had our dental appointment. I had some fears - both girls were going with me, Lisa couldn't get away from work to stay with Megan. I checked with the staff earlier this week to see if someone could pull themselves away from filing insurance paper work and hold onto a baby while my teeth were cleaned. This was Helena's second visit for an actual cleaning (she's tagged along with us for the past two years just to get her use to the place) so she was only slightly nervous.

Helena did great. She nearly gagged during the fluoride treatment but stuck it out like a champ. Megan continued to be the adorable child she always is when she's around perfect strangers (I ought to be concerned about her seeming lack of stranger anxiety but today I didn't mind). No cavities for Helena (though the dentist says we will be making an appointment with an orthodontist in the near future (that Amazon link works pretty well for contributions hint hint ). Me another cavity. Seems the hectic life as a stay at home dad gives too many opportunities to neglect my oral hygiene.

Helena Schutte: Entomologist

Getting ready for bed last night Helena looks out the window and discovered a rather substantial bug on the window. She made some sort of exasperated gasp and went running from the room. Were she all grown up, you'd think she was scared of the thing but thankfully she's still filled with wonder and excitement. She had gone running for her little bug cage. She and Lisa went outside to capture it and they look up what kind of critter it is --

It's tough getting a good picture of something trapped in a Plexiglas cage but we've concluded our little visitor is no other than Acanthocephala terminalis aka a Leaf Footed Bug the only Acanthocephala species occurring north of North Carolina it turns out. We feel honored to find one in our yard, really. They live off of plant juices so Helena is hoping to keep him for a pet but we'll convince her to set it free in a day or so. Otherwise he might end up like the wooly worm she brought home from our trip to the mountains almost a month ago. She's still expected him to start making a cocoon any day now. Haven't had the heart to point out that he hasn't moved in weeks.

Sunday night eats

Growing up I don't recall eating too many veggies that didn't come out of can. I only recall ever seeing carrots, celery and the occasional bell pepper in the kitchen as a kid. But then before NAFTA were there as many fresh vegetables around at the grocery store? Hmmm...

But no matter. After discovering as an adult that vegetables do taste good (unlike those that encased in steel by the Jolly Green Giant) it surprises me that many other people still shy away from a whole food group. Especially people with small kids. There are veggies out there that are really good for you, widely available and easier to make than a box of Mac & cheese. For example Butternut Squash
I've gotten two request for directions on how to prepare it and it's Sunday so here you go...

1. Select a squash from the store. Look for one that isn't too narrow at the top and free of obvious blemishes.
2. Wash the squash.
3. Slice it in half (top to bottom) with a heavy knife. If you have a sword around that might work too, the stem can be pretty tough.
4. Scoop the seeds out much like you would a pumpkin and the loose flesh around there.
5. Put 1/2 cup of water in a dish then place in the two halves of squash - cut side down.
6. Put it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or so and voila! Spoon it on a plate with a dab of butter and mmmmm That a tasty source of beta-carotene.

For those introducing little ones to solid food butternut squash is great. Mush it up well with a fork and add a little extra water and forget the gerbers.

and we sing....

hmmm...

Today is the birthday of somebody who Is happy and smiling and right in this room So look all around you and tell me just who Is happy and smiling? My goodness, it's YOU

One stays up all night working on a project and completely lets slip an important occasion...

As most of my birthday wishes are, here is a belated Happy Birthday to my sister Tina who turned 28 (again) on Friday.

Happy Birthday Tina.

Remodeling

While it may have seemed I had forgotten about the blog, you can now see (dear god, I hope you can see) I've done a bit of remodeling of the site.

At this point there are some significant lag when loading the page. I hope that isn't due to the redesign, cause I really don't want to have to start from scratch. More likely one of my little plug-ins is acting up and grinding everything else to a stand still.

I also note that the text may be too small at this point. Or it's that staying up until 3am has ruined my eyesight. You tell me.

Lastly the design looks slightly different in Internet Explorer than it does in Mozilla/Firefox. That is to say it looks right in Mozilla/Firefox. You ought not use Internet Explorer. Ever.

Of course if you must due to some hateful IT department or a sense of self loathing, just realize that the page looks really cool in Firefox and you aren't cool if you don't use it.

No comment

While we try do follow the adage moderations in all things, including moderation I did not intend to turn on the option to moderate comments. Kinda doesn't work well when you neglect to enter an address to have the comments sent to before they get approved.
But all is repaired now. Please continue to make fun of us.

Sunday night eats.

Yes, it has been a spell since we shared any recipes. The sad truth is, the three or so we've shared - that's it. All we got. Last week I almost wrote out how to make a bowl of cereal but it was just too depressing. I couldn't remember if the milk went in before the flakes or after!
Okay maybe it isn't that bad but in the kitchen department I have been in a bit of a rut. Using her super psycho psychic powers Sheila "Mimi" Spiro knew I needed some help and sent along the following:

CURRIED PUMPKIN SOUP

2 Med Onions Chopped
2 TB Unsalted Butter
2 Lg Garlic Cloves Minced
1 ½ TB Minced Fresh Ginger Root
2 tsp ground Cumin
1 tsp ground Coriander
1/8 tsp ground Cardamom
1 ½ tsp Salt
¾ tsp hot pepper flakes
2 10 oz cans solid pack Pumpkin (I make this with fresh baked pumpkin to = 3½C)
7 C Water (I prefer chicken stock)
1 ½ C Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
1 14 oz Can Coconut Milk (not the non-fat kind)

GARNISH
¼ C Olive Oil
2 tsp brown mustard seeds (I toast them till they poop in the pan)
8 Fresh Curry Leaves

Cook onions in butter in a heavy soup pot over moderately low heat. They will slowly caramelize but not brown. Add garlic & ginger, cook 5 min. Add Cumin, Coriander, Cardamom stir in till it smells toasty 1 minute. Stir in Salt, red pepper, pumpkin, water, broth, and coconut milk. Simmer uncovered 30 min. Puree in batches to make this soup like velvet. In another pan heat the olive oil and toast the mustard seeds till they pop. Add curry (or sage) leaves for 5 seconds. Add this to top the soup when serving.

Soup can be made a day in advance and re-heated. Soup can be thinned with a little water if needed.

MMmmm. I've got a few items for the grocery list now....

Can I use a lifeline?

Last month I pointed out the occasional pitfalls of having google's targeted ads. Having advertisements for a new pet after discussing losing a four-legged member of the family is a bit tasteless, but you can understand how Google's computers could make the connection.

I'm not sure James Burke could walk me through how these ads are relevant. (click the picture on the right so you can read it)

Maybe it was too much of the vino.

what a cutey pie!

Sure her face is a mess and toying with the filters doesn't add anything to the picture but ain't she cute?

Just a quick post to try out google's Picasa2 Blogthis! button. Which works pretty well- if only I could use it to add several pictures to one post... 

Asses for assholes?

I've noticed a few visitors stopping by from Texas and to those folks especially those from the Austin area allow me to pass along this event to pencil in on your calendar:

the 2nd* Austin Mooning of the Klan
Saturday, November 5th
Austin City Hall (or nearby depending on where the police make us stand)
from 1-3PM

More info to be found here.

A toast to your health!

We've all heard that moderate (there's always a catch isn't there) consumption of wine can be good for you. Some cancers, heart disease, high blood pressure, even the common cold show some evidence of being prevented by a glass of wine a day. Not that we need any excuse here to enjoy a glass of vino every now and then (wonder if we can get a prescription and have insurance cover the price of a case of wine? hmmm).

It looks like there's another health benefit wine may have-

Compound in wine reduces levels of Alzheimer's disease-causing peptides

A study published in the November 11 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry shows that resveratrol, a compound found in grapes and red wine, lowers the levels of the amyloid-beta peptides which cause the telltale senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease.

Additional good news is that resveratrol may also be effective in fighting other human amyloid-related diseases such as Huntington's, Parkinson's and prion diseases. Studies by a group at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale in Paris, France have recently shown that resveratrol may protect neurons against amyloid-like polyglutamines, a hallmark of Huntington's disease.

MMmmmm wine, is there anything it can't do?

In the interest of science...

Before I go any further, I do realize I am a nut. It's a known fact, so we can leave that aside and continue. I'm making a request for information about your urine. Specifically about your urine after eating asparagus or what I'll call Post Asparagus Urine (PAU)
I have mentioned it before - I've never noticed an unusual foul smell after eating the stuff. Being a nerd, I've been doing some research the subject.
Here's what I've learned. It isn't known whether the stench comes from either methanethiol or from S-Methyl Thioesters. Doesn't really matter really. They're both sulfur compounds and it can take as little as fifteen minutes for whichever chemical to make it from the vegetable to your bladder.
The part that has me intrigued is that not only are there others who can't smell the stuff, but some people don't metabolize asparagus the same way and don't produce the smell. So there are two categories:

excretors and non-excretors of the smell
Perceivers and non-perceivers of the smell

It's a genetic trait it seems. Some populations less likely to be perceivers than others. According to Lisa, everyone in our house is a producer of the smell. Megan, of course is too young to let us know if she can tell the difference in PAU. I don't know how reliable Helena's observations are but she says she's able to smell a difference.

So my request to everyone, let me know, are you a excretor or non excretor? Perceiver or non-perceiver. If you don't generally eat asparagus, just go ahead and pick some up at the market. But please don't get the canned stuff, while this is a scientific experiment, I am trying to be humane. If I can get sample of responses (please do not send me your pee) maybe we'll find some correlations with some other traits. But really I'm just curious.

New!! just click and vote!

Another Halloween...

has come and passed and again we forgot to photograph the girls in their costumes. D'oh!

Helena dressed as a Vaqueros riding a unicorn (We really need a pictures, don't we.) I'm sure I can get her to try the costume on again.

At times, Helena can be a bit on the timid and moody side. Last year we could only get her to stop at three houses before giving up on the trick-or-treating. So last night we weren't sure how she'd do and when at six o'clock she said she didn't want to go - I was expecting a repeat of last year with Lisa carrying Helena upset because some stranger said "hi" to her.
How much difference a year makes.
Megan and I stayed home on candy hand out duty. Helena and the boy across the street went trick-or-treating together with Lisa and the neighbors enjoying the show. Almost 2 hours of trick-or-treating. Almost the whole neighborhood covered. Running up to every house and thanking everyone for the candy (BTW what is it with the Smarties candy?! Does anyone really like those? Helena got like two dozen of them.) There were a few houses with spooky decorations but there were no complaints this year.
Megan also got a real kick out of the evening dropping treats in the bags of all the little monsters and princesses who stopped by. It's tough with the age difference right now. Megan could have gone to a few houses but it isn't like she'd get the candy. And somebody has to stay at dole out the goodies...Maybe next year the both of them will go out together.

But can you guess the outcome of having Helena stay up late and getting way more sugar than her body is use to?

Crashed out on the living room floor at 10am the day after.

sweet dreams Helena