The 4th is With Her

Today my little sunshine turns four years old. While she hasn’t been a baby for quite some time, I feel like the transition from three to four somehow launches her firmly into the realm of girl. A girl with likes and preferences and opinions. A girl who knows what she wants. And what she wants is Star Wars.

 

So when I saw this pool noodle lightsaber pin from the queen of geeky girlyness (girly geekyness?), Jen of Epbot and Cake Wrecks, I knew we had to make them happen for Sunday’s party. A quick Google search turned up a variety of tutorials, and Paul locked himself in the office for a couple of hours to give each lightsaber its own unique flair.

Veronica picked a green one, of course.

 

Needless to say, they were a hit. Ba-dum ching.

 

Other fun included daring aerial acrobatics…

 

Drinking pool water out of a pair of goggles (because that’s what two-year-olds do)…

 

And trying to keep the wrong end (right end?) of the bottle in Ari’s mouth.

 

Here’s a more appropriate object for her to chew on. Opa, show her how it’s done!

 

That’s better.

 

This watermelon was originally going to be a shark, but in keeping with the Star Wars vibe a few small changes turned it into the giant asteroid worm (apparently also known as an Exogorth, thanks Google).

 

And of course, there was the infamous (to my Facebook friends) Darth Vader cake. Since Veronica specifically requested a Darth Vader cake - also thanks to Jen of Cake Wrecks and her nifty book - I gave it my best shot. I still think that Vader got the better of this epic battle, but my valiant husband did step in and keep it from becoming a total disaster. 

 

So this tired mama’s heart melted when Veronica saw the finished product and said, “It’s perfect for me, Mom.”

 

She gets a little shy when she’s the center of attention.

 

Though she was more than happy to pose for a picture with one of her new toys.

 

While Jacinta quietly helped herself to the rest of the frosting.

 

The next morning, Veronica was up early to play with her new collection. Excited, much?

 

Jacinta was ready for fun, too. Complete with heavy breathing.

 

Today – Veronica’s actual birthday - we treated her to breakfast in bed, a favorite tradition from my husband’s childhood. Which he totally made happen while I groggily tried to remember how the camera worked.

Happy Birthday, Veronica! I can’t believe it’s been four years, but we love you more today than ever!

Midnight Movie?

Last time, on Jacinta’s Midnight Exploits: the ability of a certain two-year-old to open the refrigerator paired with her propensity to occasionally wander around the house in the middle of the night prompts Mom and Dad to slide a vacuum attachment through the refrigerator door handles. A surprisingly effective child deterrent.

And now, for today’s episode.

One night last week, I woke in the wee hours of the morning to a light shining into our semi-open bedroom doorway. Since we hadn’t left any lights on, I knew it could only mean one thing: someone was up and about when they should have been sleeping. And I had a pretty good guess as to who it was.

 

Exhibit A: There is only one person in our house who has both the dexterity and the skinny arms necessary to remove DVDs from the drawer despite the presence of a child latch.

 

Exhibit B: A trail of movies leading to the perpetrator’s hideout.

 

And finally, Exhibit C: A child who, having obtained some of her favorite movies to accompany her to bed, tucked herself in and fell back to sleep.

Good thing we locked that refrigerator, eh?

Celebrating Independence

Veronica and Jacinta wanted to show off the firecrackers they made yesterday. Paper towel tube, scrapbook paper, stickers, and pipe cleaners – super easy.

Veronica is camping with her grandparents now, but the rest of us will be celebrating by grilling, eating, swimming and reading the Declaration of Independence. Not necessarily in that order (urp).

Happy 4th everyone!

Southwestern Spaghetti Squash Soup

I usually see spaghetti squash get rave reviews in the blogosphere. There are a ton of recipes out there, and some even use it as a replacement for pasta. I’ve tried it a couple different ways, but I just can’t seem to jump on the bandwagon. So when we got a spaghetti squash in our Bountiful Basket recently, I knew I’d need to find something different to do with it.

I’ve had good luck with other squash in soups before so that seemed a good place to start. The internet delivered this recipe and I decided to give it a try, with a few changes.

Southwestern Spaghetti Squash Soup

• 1 1/3 cups dry, uncooked black beans (or 2 cans black beans, drained)
• 1 spaghetti squash
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 an onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeds removed and diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and diced small
• 1/2 cup roasted green chiles, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground oregano
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups chicken broth
• salt to taste
• cilantro
• shredded cheese
• sour cream

If you are using dry black beans, you need to start several hours in advance. Rinse the beans, place in a large pot and cover generously with water. Bring to a boil, then cover and set aside to soak for one hour. In the mean time, preheat the oven to 375. Place the whole spaghetti squash on a baking pan and bake for about an hour, or until a knife slides in easily. When cool enough to touch, cut squash in half, scoop out seeds and discard. Scoop out the flesh and set aside.

Once the beans have soaked, drain the water and rinse the beans thoroughly. Cover with water and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Let simmer until tender, at least one more hour (possibly more). When beans are done, drain and set aside.

In your soup pot, heat olive oil and throw in the onions and garlic. Cook for a couple minutes, then add green bell pepper, jalapeno and green chiles and cook for a few minutes more. Add spices and cook for a minute or so until fragrant. Add tomatoes and stir, then add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.

In a blender, combine most of the spaghetti squash with about a cup of the cooked black beans. Add a few ladles full of the soup and puree. Add puree, remaining spaghetti squash (I gave the strands a rough chop first) and remaining black beans to the soup. Add salt to taste (I needed about 1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt, but start with less and work your way up). Soup is ready when heated through.

Serve with cilantro, shredded cheese and sour cream.

The verdict: very good! As Paul said last night, we have found it’s hard to go wrong with Southwestern soups in our house. I will definitely have this on my list of go-to spaghetti squash recipes. By itself. At least for now. Do you have a tasty spaghetti squash recipe? Feel free to share!

Old Wisdom

There’s an old saying. Actually, there are a lot of old sayings, but I’m thinking of one in particular. You may have heard it before.

 

Keep your friends close.

 

But keep your enemies closer.

Roar.

Midnight Snack?

Fact: Jacinta loves her new sleeping arrangements. For the most part she stays in bed once we put her there but there are the occasional late night and early morning wanderings.

Fact: Jacinta has recently learned how to open the refrigerator. Which is, incidentally, why we have run out of apples already this week.

Eyewitness account: The other night I heard the pitter-patter of little feet in the hallway that could only precede a little Jacinta wandering into our room. It was one o’clock in the morning, so Paul dragged himself out of bed and I followed. Apparently she had run out of water because she handed her cup to Paul and he went to the kitchen to fill it. Meanwhile I stumbled into the room in order to get her tucked in and resettled. But first she had to hand me something. It was an artichoke.

 

Strange choice for a midnight snack, but to each her own.

 

As she handed it to me she babbled something unintelligible, but her tone of voice said, “Here Mom, I don’t need this anymore. You can put it away.”

Thanks, Cinta.

Question of the Day

Me singing: He’s got the whoooooole woooooorld in his hands…

Veronica: No, Mom. Don’t sing. (What mother hasn’t heard that before!)

Me: Well okay then.

Veronica: God has the whole world in his hands?

Me: Yep.

Veronica: Well where does he put the world when he is done holding it?

Me: …