This last Saturday was my Granny's memorial. We had a diner out at our friend Linda Cook's farm to celebrate her life. It was such a wonderful experience, everyone eating and playing and talking out in the shade around the farm. Fantastic, fantastic! One of the dishes we (Clif, Borhan and I) prepared was my grandfather's bbq sauce. I hadn't had this sauce for years, maybe 20 or so, and had forgotten how good it was. We served it with a pulled pork shoulder that had been slow roasted for about 5 hours.
The recipe I have is for a lot of sauce - you can freeze what you don't use or just cut the recipe in half or even a forth. It says it is for 3-4 pot roasts and we had 2 pork shoulders and one pork roast (about 13 lbs total with bone)
4 x Onion Soup Mix
6 x 15oz Tomato Sauce
1 sm jar brown mustard
Kitchen Bouquet (to darken sauce)
1/4 c vinegar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 Tbsp Hot Sauce
4 tsp Chile Powder
3/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Black Pepper
Combine all ingredients in pot and bring to boil. Reduce and simmer for couple of hours.
Combine with beef or pork roast that have been pulled apart serve with rice or bread. Enjoy!
Monday, May 13, 2013
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Boys like cereal
My boys love cereal. Any time of day, they are just as happy with a bowl of cereal as with any other type of food. Granola, Rice or Corn Chex, Coco Krispies are the three main stays of my children. In fact, without cereal, they would have starved and withered away long ago.
When they pour a bowl, they go through little rituals. First they dump cereal in the bowl, getting a fair amount all over the counter and onto the floor. They are for the most part oblivious that they have made a mess. Then they flatten the cereal down in the bowl. I can't figure out why they do this, maybe they are measuring the amount against some invisible mark on the side of the bowl. Who knows, but they never seem to add more or take any out, as if the initial pour of cereal was perfect every time. Add milk and then instead of eating at the table or breakfast bar, they eat the cereal in one of two places. At the counter or on the floor. Sometime this causes additional problems, like spilt cereal on the carpet or the fact that they are taking up all the counter space with there cereal.
Ah well, at least they are full.
When they pour a bowl, they go through little rituals. First they dump cereal in the bowl, getting a fair amount all over the counter and onto the floor. They are for the most part oblivious that they have made a mess. Then they flatten the cereal down in the bowl. I can't figure out why they do this, maybe they are measuring the amount against some invisible mark on the side of the bowl. Who knows, but they never seem to add more or take any out, as if the initial pour of cereal was perfect every time. Add milk and then instead of eating at the table or breakfast bar, they eat the cereal in one of two places. At the counter or on the floor. Sometime this causes additional problems, like spilt cereal on the carpet or the fact that they are taking up all the counter space with there cereal.
Ah well, at least they are full.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The calm before the storm
I am in my hammock...
9:29 PM... the wind is blowing out of the southwest, pushing a heat lightning storm across the palouse. I can feel the pressure change, laying here outside on my deck. It is weird, almost like waves that give me the sensation that I am falling or spinning. But then a cool breeze will push it past me and I will feel normal again. To the west I see the flash of light across the horizon, but I can't hear the thunder. It's almost unnatural, to think that there can be lightning without thunder. Growing up in the south, the two went together... but not here.
I am trying to relax, but I can't. Darius's surgery date looms on the horizon, it feels unnatural too. Distant like the lightning but in fact is just 7 days away. The lightning is close now too.
9:45 PM... Our neighbor's little dog is barking, anxious, because of the coming storm most likely. I feel the same way, anxious. It is not just the little dog, a pack of coyotes has taken up the call, they are all around... baying from all sides, they feel it to, the nervous energy before a storm.
9:29 PM... the wind is blowing out of the southwest, pushing a heat lightning storm across the palouse. I can feel the pressure change, laying here outside on my deck. It is weird, almost like waves that give me the sensation that I am falling or spinning. But then a cool breeze will push it past me and I will feel normal again. To the west I see the flash of light across the horizon, but I can't hear the thunder. It's almost unnatural, to think that there can be lightning without thunder. Growing up in the south, the two went together... but not here.
I am trying to relax, but I can't. Darius's surgery date looms on the horizon, it feels unnatural too. Distant like the lightning but in fact is just 7 days away. The lightning is close now too.
9:45 PM... Our neighbor's little dog is barking, anxious, because of the coming storm most likely. I feel the same way, anxious. It is not just the little dog, a pack of coyotes has taken up the call, they are all around... baying from all sides, they feel it to, the nervous energy before a storm.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Lime and Cilantro Rice
I whipped this recipe out the other day for a Cinco de Mayo party (Thanks Stacy and Steve!). It is a basmatti rice with lime and cilantro.
3 cups basmatti rice
1 onion
1 lime
1 bunch of cilantro
salt to taste
olive oil
Soak rice for 1/2 hour, drain several times till water runs clear. Cook rice in large pot with excess water (salt the water with 2-3 Tbsp of salt) till the rice is almost done. You want to be able to bit into it and have a bit of hardness still. Drain rice and wash with water. This will blanch the rice and remove the excess salt water. Slice onion, chop cilantro, cut lime in half. In pot that you cooked the rice, pour 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil and layer sliced onion so it covers the bottom of the pot. Turn on stove to med-high heat. Put half the rice into the pot and add half the cilantro and lime, add salt to taste. Mix and repeat with the remaining rice, cilantro and lime, again add a little salt to taste. Turn down the stove top to low heat and cover the pot, cook for additional 15 minutes or so. This will steam the rice to completion and create a nice fried onion crust on the bottom.
Enjoy!
3 cups basmatti rice
1 onion
1 lime
1 bunch of cilantro
salt to taste
olive oil
Soak rice for 1/2 hour, drain several times till water runs clear. Cook rice in large pot with excess water (salt the water with 2-3 Tbsp of salt) till the rice is almost done. You want to be able to bit into it and have a bit of hardness still. Drain rice and wash with water. This will blanch the rice and remove the excess salt water. Slice onion, chop cilantro, cut lime in half. In pot that you cooked the rice, pour 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil and layer sliced onion so it covers the bottom of the pot. Turn on stove to med-high heat. Put half the rice into the pot and add half the cilantro and lime, add salt to taste. Mix and repeat with the remaining rice, cilantro and lime, again add a little salt to taste. Turn down the stove top to low heat and cover the pot, cook for additional 15 minutes or so. This will steam the rice to completion and create a nice fried onion crust on the bottom.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Remodel, Part 2
Spring is finally upon the palouse and our bonus room remodel is going well. I have removed all the ceiling cross beams and added a small wall to create a walk in closet. Hopefully, this weekend I will finish framing the peak in the center of the room and frame in the wall book cases. Tomorrow I am going to stop by PBS and get the 2x4 needed to finish the peak. We got out quote for insulation from MBS and JJs, which we will need to evaluate and decide if we want to install the insulation ourselves, and save $400 or have MBS do it and save ourselves a weekend. Right now I am leaning towards installing it on my own. I can probably get some help from a couple of friends one evening and get most of it done then. I have never put in insulation, so I will probably learn something in the process... All of this remodeling has us thinking about finishing off the house and doing the addition this summer. This would be a pretty major project, adding on about 800 square feet to the house. The financial side of things makes this project a bit scary, but in the long run it will add tremendous value to the house and ease some of the issues we are having because all the boys sleep in one room right now. The addition will include a living room (18 x 26) and a master bedroom suite. We would convert our existing living room into a formal dining room as part of the addition/remodel. Pretty soon it will be time to till the garden and get some plants growing, I am excited about this as usual. I love fresh veggies from the garden. My plan is to get some lettuce, spinach, bok choi, and carrots into the ground by Vivi's birthday (April 15), so that by WSU graduation we will have a steady supply of salad veggies. In May, I will start the rest of the crops. Mostly from seed, but also from the starts at the farmers market. Fun spring projects!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Bonus Room Remodel
So, besides training for a half marathon in June, ViviAnne and I have decided it is time to finish up all our little home projects. Mainly this includes the basement bathroom and the bonus room, but also includes all the little fix-it things that happened over the last 4 years living in the house (three boys are amazingly destructive).
In February I finished tiling the basement bathroom. It was a lot of work, but the bathroom looks great, so I am glad to have done it. I have grouted the tile and sealed it once, but still need to go back over it all one more time, just to be safe. Then I will hook up the shower head and give it a whirl. When we built the house, all we put in there was the piping, so I am looking at a 4 and a half year bathroom remodel (good thing I don't get paid for this).
The next big ticket item is the bonus room. ViviAnne and I have come to realize that we need another room. The boys are starting to need a little more space as they are all crammed into one room right now. Plus the bonus room is by far the coolest room in the house, with nice views of both Kamiak Butte and Moscow Mountain. So it is time to do some remodeling, luckily the room is only framed and wired so changes will be easy...
First thing is to raise the ceiling. I want to have a ceiling fan in the room, but I find that in a normal height room I hit my hands on the blades if I raise them up, so I want to put the height of the center of the room up just a little bit. The roof itself is formed from the garage trusses so I have a bit of room to raise the ceiling into. I will need to redo some of the electrical wiring, phone, and TV cabling as well. The second thing to do is frame in a wall to create a small walk in closet. We will also upgrade the lighting fixtures to can lighting.
Once the framing and wiring changes are done, it will be time to insulate. Most likely we will hire out for this bit. But price may become an issue, so I may find myself doing this too. Sheet rocking, taping, painting, and flooring come after. I will post more once I have finished the first part, pictures too I hope!
Happy hammering.
In February I finished tiling the basement bathroom. It was a lot of work, but the bathroom looks great, so I am glad to have done it. I have grouted the tile and sealed it once, but still need to go back over it all one more time, just to be safe. Then I will hook up the shower head and give it a whirl. When we built the house, all we put in there was the piping, so I am looking at a 4 and a half year bathroom remodel (good thing I don't get paid for this).
The next big ticket item is the bonus room. ViviAnne and I have come to realize that we need another room. The boys are starting to need a little more space as they are all crammed into one room right now. Plus the bonus room is by far the coolest room in the house, with nice views of both Kamiak Butte and Moscow Mountain. So it is time to do some remodeling, luckily the room is only framed and wired so changes will be easy...
First thing is to raise the ceiling. I want to have a ceiling fan in the room, but I find that in a normal height room I hit my hands on the blades if I raise them up, so I want to put the height of the center of the room up just a little bit. The roof itself is formed from the garage trusses so I have a bit of room to raise the ceiling into. I will need to redo some of the electrical wiring, phone, and TV cabling as well. The second thing to do is frame in a wall to create a small walk in closet. We will also upgrade the lighting fixtures to can lighting.
Once the framing and wiring changes are done, it will be time to insulate. Most likely we will hire out for this bit. But price may become an issue, so I may find myself doing this too. Sheet rocking, taping, painting, and flooring come after. I will post more once I have finished the first part, pictures too I hope!
Happy hammering.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Half Marathon
Yup, you read it right, I am going to do a half marathon. The half marathon I have chosen to do is in the foothills of Mt. Hood, the course travels around Lake Timothy 14.2 miles. You can learn more about it here. I have never done one before, in fact I have never really run more than a couple of miles, and I am a bit nervous about finishing the whole thing.
I have gotten my self a training program, and it looks pretty good. During the week I run a couple of times, about 3-5 miles each time, and then do some cross training and strength training on the off days. On Saturday or Sunday I go out for a longer run, gradually increasing the distance throughout the next 11 weeks. By the first week of June I will be doing 10-11 mile runs on the weekend.
I did my first weekend run today and feel great. I ran 4 miles along kitzmiller rd. and feel really good. I held a 9:11 minute pace, which I hope to improve on these next couple of weeks. The road I ran along is gravel and through the wheat field of the palouse. Right now, everything is a bit brown, but in a couple more weeks all the wheat will be up and everything will be emerald green, my favorite time of the year in the palouse. I also started tracking my runs with an online training website, Running Ahead. So if you want to follow me, go right ahead, I think I left my profile public on that site.
I have gotten my self a training program, and it looks pretty good. During the week I run a couple of times, about 3-5 miles each time, and then do some cross training and strength training on the off days. On Saturday or Sunday I go out for a longer run, gradually increasing the distance throughout the next 11 weeks. By the first week of June I will be doing 10-11 mile runs on the weekend.
I did my first weekend run today and feel great. I ran 4 miles along kitzmiller rd. and feel really good. I held a 9:11 minute pace, which I hope to improve on these next couple of weeks. The road I ran along is gravel and through the wheat field of the palouse. Right now, everything is a bit brown, but in a couple more weeks all the wheat will be up and everything will be emerald green, my favorite time of the year in the palouse. I also started tracking my runs with an online training website, Running Ahead. So if you want to follow me, go right ahead, I think I left my profile public on that site.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Battlestar Galactica
For the past two or so weeks ViviAnne and I have been addicted to Battlestar Galactica. I didn't think ViviAnne was really into Sci-Fi, but she likes this show. We put the kids to bed, make a cup of tea (coffee for me:) and fire up the o'l netflix. We usually watch 2-3 episodes a night, and then go to sleep thinking that we should have stopped one episode earlier.
It is a great show. Tonight we will probably finish up Season 2.5.
Starbuck out.
It is a great show. Tonight we will probably finish up Season 2.5.
Starbuck out.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Fudge, Euker, Bud
My uncle passed away this morning. Great uncle actually, uncle Bud. I haven't seen him for quite a long time, I would say more than 15 years. But I do remember the last time I visited him.
My parents and sister and I had traveled up to visit my grandparents in Amherst, MA for Christmas. We took the car and traveled to uncle Bud and Aunt Maxine's house with my grandparents. We got there in the early afternoon and played euchre into the evening. I remember playing with uncle Bud against my grandfather and father, I think we won every game we played. It was fun and I remember hearing some good euchre wisdom from uncle Bud. I also remember that there was a lot of table talk about every one's hand, except for uncle Bud, he was pretty quiet, only chiming in with things like, "...your partner is always good for two tricks" and "never lead next suite".
The other thing I remember about my visit was the full blown distillery in the basement and the fudge. Uncle Bud made a lot of wine out of different stuff, like pears or peaches or potatoes. Fudge is one of my favorite ways to eat chocolate, so euchre and fudge and family, it doesn't get much better than that.
Save a chair for me at the euchre table. Peace.
My parents and sister and I had traveled up to visit my grandparents in Amherst, MA for Christmas. We took the car and traveled to uncle Bud and Aunt Maxine's house with my grandparents. We got there in the early afternoon and played euchre into the evening. I remember playing with uncle Bud against my grandfather and father, I think we won every game we played. It was fun and I remember hearing some good euchre wisdom from uncle Bud. I also remember that there was a lot of table talk about every one's hand, except for uncle Bud, he was pretty quiet, only chiming in with things like, "...your partner is always good for two tricks" and "never lead next suite".
The other thing I remember about my visit was the full blown distillery in the basement and the fudge. Uncle Bud made a lot of wine out of different stuff, like pears or peaches or potatoes. Fudge is one of my favorite ways to eat chocolate, so euchre and fudge and family, it doesn't get much better than that.
Save a chair for me at the euchre table. Peace.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
King's Gold Potato Soup
I was on facebook the other day and saw a post from a friend in high school. She was making cougar gold cheddar and potato soup, so I asked for the recipe. I added a few things (bacon), but the majority of this is from Ms. King-Hood. Thanks Cyell!
1/2 stick butter
1 onion (thinly sliced)
8 cloves garlic (diced)
1 tsp dry mustard
3 cups chicken broth
6 slices hardwood smoked bacon
1 cup grated carrots
3 cup potatoes (peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes)
2 cups half and half
3 cups WSU Cougar Gold Cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste (I used 1/2 tsp pepper and salt)
Melt and brown butter in soup pot, add sliced onion, mustard and garlic and saute. Cook bacon crisp, and chop into small pieces. Add chicken broth, carrots, potatoes to soup pot. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add bacon, Cougar Gold and half and half. Make sure you wait the 30 minutes till you add the cheese and half and half. The cheese will burn on the bottom of the pot if it cooks to long. Simmer until cheese is melted (couple of minutes). Ready to serve! If you have never had Cougar Gold cheese you are in for a treat, it is a bit salty, so be careful adding additional salt to this dish. It is an excellent cheese to cook with and you can pick up a tin of Cougar Gold cooking cheese for about half the price of a regular tin. Ask about it at Ferdinands.
When I make this again, I will sub out a cup or so of chicken broth for a nice beer. Let you all know how it turns out...
1/2 stick butter
1 onion (thinly sliced)
8 cloves garlic (diced)
1 tsp dry mustard
3 cups chicken broth
6 slices hardwood smoked bacon
1 cup grated carrots
3 cup potatoes (peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes)
2 cups half and half
3 cups WSU Cougar Gold Cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste (I used 1/2 tsp pepper and salt)
Melt and brown butter in soup pot, add sliced onion, mustard and garlic and saute. Cook bacon crisp, and chop into small pieces. Add chicken broth, carrots, potatoes to soup pot. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add bacon, Cougar Gold and half and half. Make sure you wait the 30 minutes till you add the cheese and half and half. The cheese will burn on the bottom of the pot if it cooks to long. Simmer until cheese is melted (couple of minutes). Ready to serve! If you have never had Cougar Gold cheese you are in for a treat, it is a bit salty, so be careful adding additional salt to this dish. It is an excellent cheese to cook with and you can pick up a tin of Cougar Gold cooking cheese for about half the price of a regular tin. Ask about it at Ferdinands.
When I make this again, I will sub out a cup or so of chicken broth for a nice beer. Let you all know how it turns out...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
To Blog
An entire semester has passed, and I haven't blogged at all. So sorry. I have cooked a lot too, I need to be better about posting. New Years is just around the corner and we are having bit of a party. We are going to be making gyros for dinner that night. I love gyros. There is a place in Moscow, Mykies Gyros, that is great. So I have bought a 30 lb roast of Blamb (Beef-Lamb) and we will be cooking it up Friday night!
Gyros:
Blamb roast (needs to be cooked on a spit or sliced and fried)
pita bread
lettuce
tomato
feta cheese
pepperoncini peppers
tzatziki sauce
grill your pita, stuff with thin slices of gyro meat, lettuce, sliced tomato, feta cheese, pepperoncinis and tzatziki. Eat and enjoy!
Gyros:
Blamb roast (needs to be cooked on a spit or sliced and fried)
pita bread
lettuce
tomato
feta cheese
pepperoncini peppers
tzatziki sauce
grill your pita, stuff with thin slices of gyro meat, lettuce, sliced tomato, feta cheese, pepperoncinis and tzatziki. Eat and enjoy!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Elimination Diet
In my last post I mentioned that ViviAnne and I were doing an elimination diet. We cut out red meat, pork, dairy, eggs, corn, white rice, wheat, all sugars, and caffeine. We could have any fruit or veggie including potatoes, fish and birds, brown rice, and beans. So far I have dropped from 226 to 213 in weight and I need to buy a new belt because there aren't any holes left to buckle into on it. We did this for three weeks and now have started introducing foods back into our diet. So far I have added back in wheat (had a tortilla), dairy (had cheese and whole milk). This was all so we could have pizza last night for dinner. Next on my list is eggs, tomorrow morning for breakfast.
Roasted potatoes and mushrooms and fried eggs over the top. Then off to the fair. So far, none of the introduced foods have reacted badly with my body, and overall I feel great.
Roasted potatoes and mushrooms and fried eggs over the top. Then off to the fair. So far, none of the introduced foods have reacted badly with my body, and overall I feel great.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
End of August
Well, three months have gone by and nothing to write about. Just kidding, we have done plenty, perhaps that is why I haven't been able to blog, to busy with life. School is starting up again, so I have some time in front of the computer to write. Sounds good to me. But where should I start, maybe with a recap of the summer...
Darius has for the most part recovered from his surgery in May. He still is not allowed to eat things that are really hard or sharp. Like apples, crackers, chips, stuff like that. He doesn't miss it though, so that is good. In the next couple of months he will have no restrictions at all, so I look forward to eating some chips and guacamole with him. There is still a small hole at the surgery site, but it may close, or it may not. We have to wait, in the mean time, he will do some speech therapy to see if that helps. Fingers crossed.
We spent much of the summer at home during the week and off on adventures during the weekends. Bahai Summer Camp, Cabin, Silverwood, Cabin, Seattle, Friend Visits, Cabin. There is a wedding coming up too, so, in a word, we have been busy!
ViviAnne and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this Aug 4. Had a wonderful time at Schweitzer Mt. and I feel more in love than ever. This past week we committed ourselves to a three week elimination diet, cutting out sugar, dairy, wheat, eggs and several other things, like coffee. I have lost almost 6 pounds in one week, and I think ViviAnne has lost 4 or 5. I haven't felt hungry at all, just had cravings for all of my favorite things, like cookies and cheese and bread and coffee. Well, two weeks to go, then I can start adding foods in one at a time and seeing how it affects my body. Should be an interesting experiment, and I will write more on it here.
There is still a little bit of summer left, and I plan on using it up. I would like to head back to Lake Wallowa for a weekend with the kids and some fishing. We are also going up to Schweitzer again for Labor Day weekend, the kids and I will fish on the boat in the lake. Speaking of the boat, I need to convince my dad to bring it down home in the winter, so we can fish on the river for steelhead.
Darius has for the most part recovered from his surgery in May. He still is not allowed to eat things that are really hard or sharp. Like apples, crackers, chips, stuff like that. He doesn't miss it though, so that is good. In the next couple of months he will have no restrictions at all, so I look forward to eating some chips and guacamole with him. There is still a small hole at the surgery site, but it may close, or it may not. We have to wait, in the mean time, he will do some speech therapy to see if that helps. Fingers crossed.
We spent much of the summer at home during the week and off on adventures during the weekends. Bahai Summer Camp, Cabin, Silverwood, Cabin, Seattle, Friend Visits, Cabin. There is a wedding coming up too, so, in a word, we have been busy!
ViviAnne and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this Aug 4. Had a wonderful time at Schweitzer Mt. and I feel more in love than ever. This past week we committed ourselves to a three week elimination diet, cutting out sugar, dairy, wheat, eggs and several other things, like coffee. I have lost almost 6 pounds in one week, and I think ViviAnne has lost 4 or 5. I haven't felt hungry at all, just had cravings for all of my favorite things, like cookies and cheese and bread and coffee. Well, two weeks to go, then I can start adding foods in one at a time and seeing how it affects my body. Should be an interesting experiment, and I will write more on it here.
There is still a little bit of summer left, and I plan on using it up. I would like to head back to Lake Wallowa for a weekend with the kids and some fishing. We are also going up to Schweitzer again for Labor Day weekend, the kids and I will fish on the boat in the lake. Speaking of the boat, I need to convince my dad to bring it down home in the winter, so we can fish on the river for steelhead.
Friday, May 28, 2010
End of May
Well this will be a general update on the last couple of weeks.
Darius continues to recover. He has a small hole in the repair, but ViviAnne was looking in his mouth yesterday and commented that it looked better than it had earlier in the week, so maybe it is zipping up as the doctor suggested it might do. Still I have been worried about needing to do a repeat surgery next summer.
Speaking of Darius, he has been such a trooper. We have been blending up food for him and thank God, he is eating it. I was telling Liam the other day that if it was him that was on a liquid diet, he would be starved because he is such a picky eater. It always seems like the one kid that has to cope with a disability is the one that is able to do so. Honestly, when we blended up the lasagna for dinner last night, it looked like vomit. But he ate it, I am amazed still!
We have done a fair amount of home improvement over the last couple of weeks. First we covered the driveway with 5/8 inch rock, so it is nice and smooth. We also added some parking off the driveway. This will later turn into one of our planned out buildings, but that is a way down the road. The same people that did our driveway also leveled out a 100 by 60 foot field in back of the house. We had hoped to put grass seed down before this big rain hit, but didn't quite make it. So now we are waiting to get it dried out enough to spread seed and then roller it out so it is nice and smooth. We will also have to keep the dog off it somehow until the grass get up. I have been tiling the basement shower over the last two weeks. It is almost done. An other day of tiling and then grouting and sealing, so if I stay diligent about another week and we will have a 3/4 bath in the basement! After that is all done, I will move into the bonus room and begin a slight remodel of the ceiling rafters and electrical wiring. After that is finished we will insulate and sheet rock the walls. Our hope is to get the bonus room turned into a pseudo-master bedroom by winter.
Chickens are out in the yard now. I installed the fence two weeks ago and it is working nicely. I have a little shoring up to do and I would like to also put fencing across the top, but so far it has been unnecessary.
With the three day week starting tomorrow I am sure I will get some more done on each of these projects.
Darius continues to recover. He has a small hole in the repair, but ViviAnne was looking in his mouth yesterday and commented that it looked better than it had earlier in the week, so maybe it is zipping up as the doctor suggested it might do. Still I have been worried about needing to do a repeat surgery next summer.
Speaking of Darius, he has been such a trooper. We have been blending up food for him and thank God, he is eating it. I was telling Liam the other day that if it was him that was on a liquid diet, he would be starved because he is such a picky eater. It always seems like the one kid that has to cope with a disability is the one that is able to do so. Honestly, when we blended up the lasagna for dinner last night, it looked like vomit. But he ate it, I am amazed still!
We have done a fair amount of home improvement over the last couple of weeks. First we covered the driveway with 5/8 inch rock, so it is nice and smooth. We also added some parking off the driveway. This will later turn into one of our planned out buildings, but that is a way down the road. The same people that did our driveway also leveled out a 100 by 60 foot field in back of the house. We had hoped to put grass seed down before this big rain hit, but didn't quite make it. So now we are waiting to get it dried out enough to spread seed and then roller it out so it is nice and smooth. We will also have to keep the dog off it somehow until the grass get up. I have been tiling the basement shower over the last two weeks. It is almost done. An other day of tiling and then grouting and sealing, so if I stay diligent about another week and we will have a 3/4 bath in the basement! After that is all done, I will move into the bonus room and begin a slight remodel of the ceiling rafters and electrical wiring. After that is finished we will insulate and sheet rock the walls. Our hope is to get the bonus room turned into a pseudo-master bedroom by winter.
Chickens are out in the yard now. I installed the fence two weeks ago and it is working nicely. I have a little shoring up to do and I would like to also put fencing across the top, but so far it has been unnecessary.
With the three day week starting tomorrow I am sure I will get some more done on each of these projects.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Frustrated
I am pretty frustrated right now about Darius's recovery from his surgery two weeks ago. He is back to his usual self, but he repair has a hole in it. The doctor say there is still a good chance that it will heal back together, but she also said to prepare yourself for it not coming back together fully.
So there is now a real possibility that we will be going through all this next summer. What really makes me sad is that Darius will have to endure it all again as well. Plus, his recovery out of OR was fairly intense, so I am not looking forward to having to endure all of the what-ifs that will pop into my mind if he goes under again.
Till next time...
So there is now a real possibility that we will be going through all this next summer. What really makes me sad is that Darius will have to endure it all again as well. Plus, his recovery out of OR was fairly intense, so I am not looking forward to having to endure all of the what-ifs that will pop into my mind if he goes under again.
Till next time...
Friday, May 7, 2010
Darius Surgery Part Two
We woke up at 4AM this morning. Darius had a Cleft Palate Repair scheduled at 8AM at Sacred Heart Medical Center (SHMC). I made breakfast and packed up the car. We woke Darius up at 4:40 and wrapped him up in blankets and drove the 70 miles to Spokane from Pullman.
Our pre-surgery meetings with all the doctors went well, they asked the same questions to use three time and then let Darius play in the waiting room for a bit until 8AM. He drove around in a little car for a while and ended up playing bumper cars with another little girl, who must have been waiting for her own surgery.
Time to go in at 8AM, he leaves us on a bed, dressed in jammies with little tigers on them. He looks nervous, but doesn't complain or cry. He is calm and I kiss him good by and let him know that I will see him soon and that I love him.
We head down to the dining area to get some more breakfast. Second breakfast if you will. First Update: Darius went back and was happy and calm the whole time, no problems what so ever and they have started the surgery. Second Update: It is going very well and they are making good progress. Third Update (at 3:30 hours time): Still going very well. Fourth Update: Almost done and should be out soon... Hour passes. Dr. Peterson comes to get us. The surgery went very well, she was able to do the least invasive cleft palate repair, which was what we had hoped for. However, after they took him off ventilation in recovery he was not breathing well. The decision was made to put him back on ventilation and sedation for the rest of the day. This would give him time to reduce swelling.
We are lead back to him room and get to see him for the first time. He is asleep (from the sedation) and has a ventilation tub, IV, and leads. He looks like he was in a bit of a fist fight. The doctor tells us that she is going to put a tube into his stomach to relieve excess gas in his tummy from the intubation (second ventilation) that they did post op. We are gently told that this might not be something we want to witness. We get it and go put our backpacks and excess stuff in the car and then head back to his room.
We are greeted by a scene out of ER or Grey's Anatomy. No less than 8 nurses/doctors are surrounding Darius. Dr. Peterson tells us, that in the process of removing the stomach tube, the intubation tube also got dislodged. It was removed and he was breathing on his own, but not well. They where trying to see if he could make it on his own, so three nurses where swapping positions between doing a jaw lift to improve his air way, holding the mask over his mouth and suctioning blood and what not out of his mouth. There are two additional respiratory therapists and a respiratory doctor, plus Dr. Peterson. There was also our room nurse and a student respiratory therapist as well. Full Room. Come on in they say.
By the thinnest of threads I was able to pull it together and go in and say something encouraging to Darius, who is fighting to come out of sedation. For the next hour or so we all keep doing what we are doing. Every so often, his heart rate will start to fall and a nurse will call out the heart rate. As a parent it is extremely difficult to hear your child's heart rate getting lower. And lower.
Darius turns the corner. You knew he would, you can not stop "The Tornado". Over the next 3 hours he improves his heart rate, reparations and O-two intake with the help of all the amazing nurses and respiratory therapists. At about 4:30 in the afternoon he finally comes out of sedation and mumbles one word...
"Bma"
We immediately call Bma and she talks to Darius over the phone for about 2 minutes and he replies to her with a gravelly, high pitched "Ya, ... Ya, ... Ya", obviously answering in the positive to some question Bma was asking. We are told we can take him off the O-two mask and he does well with this.
Darius is up in bed and then in ViviAnne lap to watch "My Little Pony", not my first choice, but it was his, so we went with it. After about an hour awake, he had a little sip of water and then asked to go to bed. He is currently sleeping, and has been for about 2 hours. He has the IV still in and the leads, but no other assistance. Great job Darius! We had hoped to be transferred to the medium level ICU, but request denied, looks like ViviAnne will sleep on the chair in the room tonight. She has gracefully told me to go sleep in a hotel room (which my parents arranged for us earlier today).
Long Day.
Our pre-surgery meetings with all the doctors went well, they asked the same questions to use three time and then let Darius play in the waiting room for a bit until 8AM. He drove around in a little car for a while and ended up playing bumper cars with another little girl, who must have been waiting for her own surgery.
Time to go in at 8AM, he leaves us on a bed, dressed in jammies with little tigers on them. He looks nervous, but doesn't complain or cry. He is calm and I kiss him good by and let him know that I will see him soon and that I love him.
We head down to the dining area to get some more breakfast. Second breakfast if you will. First Update: Darius went back and was happy and calm the whole time, no problems what so ever and they have started the surgery. Second Update: It is going very well and they are making good progress. Third Update (at 3:30 hours time): Still going very well. Fourth Update: Almost done and should be out soon... Hour passes. Dr. Peterson comes to get us. The surgery went very well, she was able to do the least invasive cleft palate repair, which was what we had hoped for. However, after they took him off ventilation in recovery he was not breathing well. The decision was made to put him back on ventilation and sedation for the rest of the day. This would give him time to reduce swelling.
We are lead back to him room and get to see him for the first time. He is asleep (from the sedation) and has a ventilation tub, IV, and leads. He looks like he was in a bit of a fist fight. The doctor tells us that she is going to put a tube into his stomach to relieve excess gas in his tummy from the intubation (second ventilation) that they did post op. We are gently told that this might not be something we want to witness. We get it and go put our backpacks and excess stuff in the car and then head back to his room.
We are greeted by a scene out of ER or Grey's Anatomy. No less than 8 nurses/doctors are surrounding Darius. Dr. Peterson tells us, that in the process of removing the stomach tube, the intubation tube also got dislodged. It was removed and he was breathing on his own, but not well. They where trying to see if he could make it on his own, so three nurses where swapping positions between doing a jaw lift to improve his air way, holding the mask over his mouth and suctioning blood and what not out of his mouth. There are two additional respiratory therapists and a respiratory doctor, plus Dr. Peterson. There was also our room nurse and a student respiratory therapist as well. Full Room. Come on in they say.
By the thinnest of threads I was able to pull it together and go in and say something encouraging to Darius, who is fighting to come out of sedation. For the next hour or so we all keep doing what we are doing. Every so often, his heart rate will start to fall and a nurse will call out the heart rate. As a parent it is extremely difficult to hear your child's heart rate getting lower. And lower.
Darius turns the corner. You knew he would, you can not stop "The Tornado". Over the next 3 hours he improves his heart rate, reparations and O-two intake with the help of all the amazing nurses and respiratory therapists. At about 4:30 in the afternoon he finally comes out of sedation and mumbles one word...
"Bma"
We immediately call Bma and she talks to Darius over the phone for about 2 minutes and he replies to her with a gravelly, high pitched "Ya, ... Ya, ... Ya", obviously answering in the positive to some question Bma was asking. We are told we can take him off the O-two mask and he does well with this.
Darius is up in bed and then in ViviAnne lap to watch "My Little Pony", not my first choice, but it was his, so we went with it. After about an hour awake, he had a little sip of water and then asked to go to bed. He is currently sleeping, and has been for about 2 hours. He has the IV still in and the leads, but no other assistance. Great job Darius! We had hoped to be transferred to the medium level ICU, but request denied, looks like ViviAnne will sleep on the chair in the room tonight. She has gracefully told me to go sleep in a hotel room (which my parents arranged for us earlier today).
Long Day.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Spring Trip to Schweitzer
We are heading up to the cabin this coming weekend. We haven't been up in ages and I think that ViviAnne and I are ready to get out of town for a long weekend. We are taking the kids up and our friends are going to join us and stay through Monday.
This will be a nice relaxing trip and some good family/friend time. Which we need, Darius has his surgery scheduled for May 7th. I have been thinking more about it lately and just hoping that his recovery is as smooth as it was for his first surgery. The little guy has been through a lot and shouldn't have to endure this, but it is necessary if he wants to talk normally. The most frustrating part is that there is no guarantee that this will be his last surgery. I think that is what has started bothering me the most. Even though we are doing all of this we may have to do it all again, which would make this surgery an unnecessary hardship that he had to endure. Sucks.
On the bright side, he gets to drink milk shakes for the next two months.
This will be a nice relaxing trip and some good family/friend time. Which we need, Darius has his surgery scheduled for May 7th. I have been thinking more about it lately and just hoping that his recovery is as smooth as it was for his first surgery. The little guy has been through a lot and shouldn't have to endure this, but it is necessary if he wants to talk normally. The most frustrating part is that there is no guarantee that this will be his last surgery. I think that is what has started bothering me the most. Even though we are doing all of this we may have to do it all again, which would make this surgery an unnecessary hardship that he had to endure. Sucks.
On the bright side, he gets to drink milk shakes for the next two months.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Make Your Own Caramel
So, my friend Clif is a bad ass cook. Hi Clif, I love you. We went to his house a while back and he made an amazing meal, in fact it was the best elk I have ever eaten. He also had some homemade caramel for dessert. It is easy to do, so I will post it here for you to enjoy as well. In fact, as I type this, I am making some.
Cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk
Big pot of water.
Peal the label off the cans, and put them into the pot of water. You must make sure that the water completely covers the cans. Bring water to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer. Simmer for 4 hours. Check fairly often to make sure the cans are covered with water. Cool and serve. You can store in in the fridge too.
So you may be wondering, what happens if I let the water boil down so the can isn't covered. Well, let me tell you, my advance knowledge in physical chemistry tells me that the cans will explode. So heed my advice and save yourself from a giant sticky mess by checking the water level every half hour.
Cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk
Big pot of water.
Peal the label off the cans, and put them into the pot of water. You must make sure that the water completely covers the cans. Bring water to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer. Simmer for 4 hours. Check fairly often to make sure the cans are covered with water. Cool and serve. You can store in in the fridge too.
So you may be wondering, what happens if I let the water boil down so the can isn't covered. Well, let me tell you, my advance knowledge in physical chemistry tells me that the cans will explode. So heed my advice and save yourself from a giant sticky mess by checking the water level every half hour.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Spring Improvements
Our chickens are getting really big. In fact, I think they may be ready to put out in the yard at the end of the month. I still need to finish off the chicken yard. I have the posts in place, but need to put up the fencing and make the door. I am also going to hang a soft fence over the top to keep out hawks and owls. It is crazy, but they will attack chickens.
I finished up the din-shield for our basement bathroom shower. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to tile it, and then we will have an official 3/4 bath in the basement. This will be great because, as of right now, we only have the one bath tub upstairs, so when people come to visit, it gets a little crowded in the morning.
The big project for the summer will be to finish up the bonus room and convert it into our bedroom. This will be great for the boys, as we will be able to separate Liam from Darius and Asa and give them all a little more room upstairs. To finish it, I will need to do some slight reframing. We decided to put in a vaulted ceiling to accommodate a fan and give the room a little more volume. After that, I will need to do a little rewiring, put in insulation and then sheet rock the walls. Paint, put in flooring and we are done. It seems like a lot, but I don't think it will take to long and hope to be moving our bedroom furniture into our new room by Sept. 1.
I finished up the din-shield for our basement bathroom shower. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to tile it, and then we will have an official 3/4 bath in the basement. This will be great because, as of right now, we only have the one bath tub upstairs, so when people come to visit, it gets a little crowded in the morning.
The big project for the summer will be to finish up the bonus room and convert it into our bedroom. This will be great for the boys, as we will be able to separate Liam from Darius and Asa and give them all a little more room upstairs. To finish it, I will need to do some slight reframing. We decided to put in a vaulted ceiling to accommodate a fan and give the room a little more volume. After that, I will need to do a little rewiring, put in insulation and then sheet rock the walls. Paint, put in flooring and we are done. It seems like a lot, but I don't think it will take to long and hope to be moving our bedroom furniture into our new room by Sept. 1.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
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