Posts (page 3)

I tried a sample of these at the grocery and I wanted to make sure I saved the recipe because they were really good. I am guessing that how good depends very much on the tomatoes and sausage.

4 links Italian sausage
4 c. fresh spinach
4 whole wheat pitas
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 roma tomatoes, sliced and seeded
2 c. crumbled feta cheese

1. Remove sausages from casings and pan fry until well-browned and crumbled. Add spinach and wilt with coked sausage.

2. Lay four pitas on a non-stick baking sheet adn brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Spoon sausage and spinach over pitas. Lay slices of tomato on top and sprinkle with feta crumbles.

4. Bake until cheese is soft and  pita is crispy and hot.

Makes 4 individual pizzas.

Things seem to be going much better with J. Lord willing, the antibiotics are working. I am only concerned because yesterday morning, he was complaining about his ear hurting and needed ibuprophen to ease the pain. Last night's dose was the one that would determine whether or not we need to go back for a recheck today; I wasn't home though (bible study) so I have to wait until later to find out for sure.

Someone last night mentioned the possibility that it's dairy that could be doing it. I know J is sensitive to cow's milk but certainly not as much as some kids. My friend said that when she has some dairy, she can get ear aches and ear infections. I had never thought of that so I will have to watch J's intake to see. It could be a combo of water in the ear from swimming and dairy; it could just be that his right ear is just built differently and is more prone to that.

The good thing is he's back to being interested in "school" stuff. I like doing his workbooks with him and he does too. That is, when his brother is ok with school work he loves it. He still idolizes his older brother of course. This week has been great with school in spite of NM's new cold which he is ignoring in the hopes that he can be at Saturday's indoor soccer game. Yep, we signed him up for indoor soccer league this summer. No practices, just games so it's obviously very casual.

He really, really wants to sign up for the more "serious" soccer league that involves more traveling and probably more practices but I'm not sure we are ready for that level of commitment. He loves, loves, loves the competition and is eager to up the ante. We'll see.

It's 1:41pm. Hubby just came home from looking for a 24-hr. pharmacy. J has been waking up crying about ear pain. Tylenol doesn't seem to be doing anything. He has no fever, just severe ear ache. Our after-hours clinic appt. is at 8:20am. Guess what? TV seems to help distract him from the pain. Maybe LaMaze is right: you can distract yourself and the pain isn't as bad.

We found one! Actually, we found Two for the Price of One!  Very clever box and very cool stamp but you have to find it yourself to see :D (letterboxing etiquette and all that).

That was fun, and we all enjoyed it in spite of how hot it was today. The boys have yet to acclimate to the warm temps lately but they really didn't complain much. As J put it, "Let's go look for more treasure!" and NM said "Are there more boxes for us to find?"

Hence Part 1. After dinner, we're going for Part 2 and will go hunting for boxes even closer to home.

Hubby already thought of ideas for a box of our own to hide and making the stamp was lots of fun (I need a better tool than an Xacto, though).

Who was the meanest teacher you had in school?

4th grade history teacher. I don't know her name, but I remember her face. Her idea of teaching was to yell at us and slam her ruler on the board (it was really a yardstick). She would write everything she said on the board so at the end of class it was full of her handwriting from top left to bottom right. It's a wonder I remember her face at all since we spent most of our time looking at her back, writing in our notebooks and looking at the board.

Well, at least the class was mostly quiet.

Personal Stamp
Originally uploaded by Phisch

Maybe some of my online friends remember me mentioning this a while back. Well, kind of a long time ago.

Wired Magazine had an article about Geocaching at some point. Fun hobby to read about. Well, I think it was that article that mentioned Geocaching followed the idea of Letterboxing.

In a nutshell, people hide letterboxes in places and then share clues of how to find them. Inside the box is a stamp, a notebook, a stamp pad and a pencil. Letterboxers bring their own stamp, pad and notebook. When you find the letterbox, you mark your stamp in its book and you take the stamp in the box and mark yours.

Most letterboxers make their own stamps and have a "trail name" to use in the books. Since the hobby began in Britain in th 1800s, there are letterboxes all over the world. And many here in Austin, TX.

So we're starting another hobby as a family this time. We went to Michael's and bought a sketch book to put stamps in and a plastic eraser. Hubby said our stamp should be a fish and so it is. It's based on an image I found via Google of an old Christian carving of two fishes and a cross. Our trail name is "Skool of Phisch." :D

365 Days Project - Day 8: Sometimes, I'm still that little girl
Originally uploaded by { karen }

Happy birthday to my youngest sister, Karen, who is a whopping 28 years ancient!

I was just wondering to myself earlier why, oh why hasn't she been on YIM all day? Eh? Then it dawns on me, it's An Important Day, I think*, and I had better go and renew her Flickr account for her again :D

*In 1983, we celebrated her birthday on the 30th, but it's really on the 31st. Or maybe the other way around. Because of that foible, I can't ever remember the right day and she has to correct me. Of course, since we were overseas on vacation, it was technically her birthday at our home in the Philippines. I'm pretty sure the "baby" half of this photo was taken on said birthday.

Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog w/ 10 weird, random things, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don't forget to leave them a comment ("You're It") and to read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you. Since you can't tag me back, let me know when you've posted your blog so I can see your answers.

1.) Growing up, we had a bunch of different pets that included: dogs, cats, hamsters, bunnies, guinea pigs, geese, chickens, parakeets, macaw, goldfish, turtles, ducks. I used to wish we were as lucky as my dad who had a monkey and a mongoose in his family's menagerie when he was growing up.

2.) I am craving sticky rice cake. What I am having trouble with is finding a recipe. I thought it was bibinka, but thats sweet bread made from rice flour.

3.) One of the people who lived in a house on the way to my sister's preschool owned a chimpanzee. They kept it in a cage outside.

4.) The first school I went to had a uniform that had tiny little white and orange houndstooth checks on it. They taught Spanish so right at the beginning of my schooling I was learning Spanish, Filipino and English. Second grade was loud because major elections were happening and members of both camps went to that school. And I knew enough not to bring home yellow ribbons or even mention them.

5.) The night my youngest sister got married, NM, my middle sister and I stood outside the wedding facility waiting for our ride. We were in our gowns (gorgeous---perfectly tailored and hand-beaded) and holding take-away boxes with cake inside. While standing there, a group of about 20 kids of all ages started begging us for change or something to eat. Most had holes in their shirts and no shoes. Some of the older boys had eyes that hinted at glue-sniffing. All we had was cake so I gave it to them with the admonition that they must share with the little ones. The image has never left me.

6.) We never played with the neighborhood kids.

7.) I broke down and bought a day planner two weeks ago. Since the kids helped to pick it out, it has monkeys and "MBM" (monkey bike magic) all over it. Thing is, I have to wait until July 2008 to "get myself in order" because that's when the calendar starts.

8.) I don't carry cash or a cell phone. Yet I survive with very little difficulty!

9.) I hate strong smells but I miss the smells of working with oil paint and the tactile adventure of working with the most basic red clay. I would love to get into portraiture or life sculpture. The latter was the art class I got the lowest grade for (bad attendance) but personally felt the most satisfaction because I could see the progression I made from "what made you think you could do this" to "decent." For the final, we did a torso and our model had multiple surgeries and it showed in her body. Mine was the only honest one---I didn't glamorize her belly or her upper torso at all. I was pretty proud of that one especially since it didn't collapse while being fired in the kiln. LOL!

10.) Hubby is three years and four days older than I am. We have the same baby book, only his is the boy version (duh).

And now, I have to tag my ten: Ayen, Kri, CakeEater, Sakura_senshi, Mai, E'sa, Anna, Johbeak, Jule, Luci's Momma and Pixiemom (plus her two blogging pixies if they're up for it). And you, too, if your name isn't on here. You're on Vox so I know you're "tagged" automatically (yes, I'm lazy).

Since it's on GodTube, I'm not sure how to post the video here directly. This is an amazing one sent to me  about the relationship of a father with his disabled son.

Grab a tissue.

Now watch.

Such a powerful example in so many ways.

blue summer dress
Originally uploaded by Phisch

Part of my mom's day gifts.

Bias cut dress, very easy pattern (Burda 7798). Too bad the cotton is faded in an odd way but I wanted thin cotton on sale. I'm a little rusty at the machine so I didn't want to use something expensive!

Other than the top part popping out (I will fix it if I know how), I like it :) The length is nice, too. I didn't modify the pattern at all and used size 10.