Spinach Brownies

 I recently checked out the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook from the library.  Our first try was the brownies which contain (among other, more normal ingredients) spinach puree and carrot puree.  The verdict:  they aren't that delicious.  They aren't horrible; the kids eat them.  I would probably eat them if there wasn't any other chocolate in the house.  They don't really taste weird or vegetably, they just have a strange spongey texture.

Anyway, Isaiah and Eliza had fun helping--she got to dump all the ingredients into the bowl, and Isaiah got to stir.

Here they are licking the spoon:

Today at lunch we tried the grilled cheese recipe.  Basically you grate the cheese, mix it up with carrot puree, and use that instead of just cheese.  Zay & Eliza each ate half of one, which is good for them.  Again the taste was okay, but Zay definitely noticed the different texture--namely the cheesy filling is much thinner, almost runny, because of the purree.  

It's kind of a funny book for us; there are so few things Zay will eat willingly to start with.  So she may have a great recipe for adding veggies to spaghetti sauce, but if your kid won't be in the same room with spaghetti anyway it doesn't really help.

When I've told the pediatrician how picky Isaiah is, she just asks if I've called his bluff yet.  She says if I just quit giving him what he likes and instead present what the rest of us are eating as his only option, eventually he'll start eating other foods.  I'm willing to try it; Jerel is worried about potential starvation.  I'm not sure you can call the bluff in a kid this stubborn...yesterday he had less than 5 bites of food the whole day...

Week #2

We have a foundation!  Do not built houses seem smaller for some reason?  Because when we walk around the space that will be the house it feels tiny.  How can 3200 square feet be tiny?  Maybe it's just because it's dwarfed by all the other even enormouser houses in the neighborhood.

This whole building a house thing has confirmed my long-standing suspicion that Jerel and I have nothing in common.  At the design appointments where we pick tile, faucets, etc. we both like totally different things.  It comes down to this:  I'd like a house just like this one:  Isn't it lovely?  It's so happy and cheerful and unique and quaint and all of those wonderful things.  It seems like your children would have no choice but to grow up to be darling, charming little tykes.

Jerel, on the other hand, would like something more like this:  Think Utah Parade of Homes or something like that.  He loves the stonework, the granite, the archways, etc.  I don't think any of those things would enhance the charmingness of my children.

Compromise is not a strong point for us either.  It's worked better to just divide up the decisions.  For example, Jerel gets to pick everything for the kitchen (because he cooks) but I retain veto power in case he selects something I can't live with.  (I am being SO agreeable.  I even okayed having a gas cooktop even though I just know it will leak and we'll all die from the fumes.)  I get to pick the laundry room (because I am the only one who properly does laundry :) )  And I got to pick the millwork (doors, baseboards, etc) which was important to me.  We did come to a standoff when it came to the hardwood floors.  Actually they're laminate.  We hated all the options at the studio, so Jerel got them to bring in some more choices (which they weren't happy about).  In the end I won that one and I'm sooooo glad we won't have oak!

New House: Week 1

FRONT VIEW

We went out to see our lot since they started building on Monday.  It turns out they haven't actually built anything, but they have dug a big hole.  Because our house has the garage underneath they have to dig out a lot.  The truck in front of the house has some of the stuff they'll use to get started on the foundation this week.

CORNER VIEW

Here's a view from the corner of the lot.  The lot to the left of ours started a week or two before ours and is quite similar to ours, so it gives us a sneak peak of what to expect the next week.  Anticipated completion date is 10/23/12.

Greene Girls Getaway

I'm sad that this photo turned out so blurry. This is the nine of us at a Sound of Music Singalong.  It was the awesomest experience of my life.  (No, not really, of course not, but it was pretty fun!)

This was my first trip away from kids & husband since before Isaiah was born.  The first couple hours of the drive I had the radio off and just drove along thinking "Hey, it's just me, I can do whatever I want.  And I won't have to stop to change a diaper."  But after a while I realized I'm kind of boring to hang out with, so I turned on NPR for the rest of the drive.

I was so delirious with freedom when I got there that I was in this super funny hyper mood, which made the singalong even more fun.  My sister & sister-in-law were sitting behind me laughing and rolling their eyes, and my teenage niece was thoroughly embarrassed, and both of those things just egged me on.  I sang along with much more gusto than most...

[NOTE:  Even though I say I enjoyed my "freedom" that doesn't mean I feel tied down and in prison when I'm with my husband and children.  I love them each very much and missed them.  I love being Jerel's husband; I love being Isaiah's mommy; I love being Eliza's mommy; but I also love just being me once in a while.  I came back refreshed and ready to be a better wife & mother.  And with a sore throat from singing so loudly...]

Please grow.

Having a small kid is so weird to us.  We're both small so we should've expected something like this.  But we started out with Isaiah who was always very big for his age, and when you've only had one kid you become convinced that ALL kids are just like that one.  So shrimpy little Eliza has definitely confused us!  She'll be 18 months in a few weeks here and still hasn't hit 20 pounds.  Isaiah was 20 pounds by the time he was 7 months old.  I bought her this outfit when she was still new and had figured she'd probably be okay to squeeze into this 12-18 month size this summer.  So here we are and I like the outfit so much I made her wear it but she just tripped over it all day (and this is with two folds at the waist).

That said, Liza Mae is just perfect!  She's so cute and small and adorable.  And because she's so little people are always doubly delighted when she does toddler-ish things like saying words and such.  So I'll just pack up the cute clothes until next year and enjoy my little one while she's still little!

The dirt looks a little different now

This is our lot.  It used to be all covered in hay but when I drove the kids by it yesterday (at Isaiah's request) it looked like someone had been moving dirt around.  We are so ready for the house building to get started!

An extra cute day

 I just thought Eliza looked especially adorable the other day so I took a few photos of her.  I made her go outside so I could get some good shots with a pretty nature background.  Instead I got the neighbor's car in the background.  Oh well, she's still a cutie pie!

A friend in the ward loaned me some clothes her daughter has grown out of and it's been fun dressing her up in new outfits every day.  Eliza now has more dresses in her current size than she previously had in her whole life combined.  Thank heaven for friends who are shopping addicts!

Bet you wish you were my niece...

Today we have a niece getting baptized in Utah, and another niece (same family) having her baby blessing.  Jerel was planning on flying down to attend, but we timed the ticket purchase poorly and the prices skyrocketed, so now we're just celebrating from Oregon.

Anyway, I made this darling (yes, I do say so myself) scripture tote bag for the one getting baptized (because her parents are getting her a new set of scriptures for her baptism).  I thought it turned out so cute I ought to write a post about it and fish for some more compliments :)

Hike #2: Noble Woods Park

Yep, our second "hike."  And already my enthusiasm is waning.  I guess I'm not one of those people to have a life-long interest in any one thing; I prefer to just dabble here and there in lots of different things.  (Translation:  I don't stick to anything.)

On this hike we brought along a scavenger hunt list I found online.  I can't decide if I liked it or not.  I had thought it would somehow get the children interested in looking at all the different aspects of nature, but I think instead it just made us (me) focused on checking off the list of things, which made us miss out on things we might otherwise have noticed.  "Isaiah, stop looking at that butterfly, we're trying to find a long stick!"  I didn't actually say that, but that's sort of how it seemed.

The highlight of this hike was definitely the mud puddle.  They each had a stick and had fun just poking around.

Also, someone should definitely teach my children how to pose for pictures!