Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A little taste

I wrote before that Dave and I got an idea for a story from watching Trevor play. I just wanted to give a little taste of what I've been working on....tell me what you think!

The Wizard laughed softly. “My name is Rupin.”
“Rupin,” Trevor repeated. “Your house is hidden but I knew it was here. Have I been here before?”
Rupin gazed around the room and then settled his eyes on Trevor. He looked at the boy thoughtfully. “You have been here before, but you must not have remembered. You have been here many times.”
Trevor looked out the window. “Is this a town? This place, Evarb?”
“Yes. The castle and my home are on the edge of town. If you go back out on the road covered with trees and walk the way you came you will pass the castle and then a mile up will be the town. There are many good things in Evarb, but there are also many dangers.”
“What kind of dangers?”
Rupin shook his head. “I can not tell you that now. You will find out soon enough.”
Trevor sat for a moment and when Rupin did not say anything more he took that as an indication that he was supposed to leave. Trevor stood and started for the door. Before he walked back outside he turned and asked, “How do I know what to do once I get to town?”
Rupin smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “You will know just as you knew how to find the door in the castle and how you knew how to find my cottage.”

Monday, August 25, 2008

First Day

Today was Trevor's first day of kindergarten. We met up with some of his friends and walked to school together. He was really excited to get to school but as soon as we got there the bell ran so he did not get to play on the playground. It took some persuading to get him off the playground and to go line up. Colin was a bit sad...he stood in line with Trevor and wanted to go in with him. Trevor did great going in and when I picked him up he said he had fun and he was good. He did not tell me much else about his day, but hopefully tonight he will say more at dinner. Colin did not like his brother gone, but I LOVED going grocery shopping with just 2 kids again. It's amazing how different Colin is when Trevor is not around. Colin missed Trevor the whole time he was gone and kept telling me he was sad. I told him we'll get to do fun things here at home, but I don't know if he believed me. But I am happy things went well for Trevor - I was a little nervous but he seemed to have a good day and said he likes school so that is good enough for me. I hope everyone else had a good first day of school!

Another first today was with Logan. He found the stairs and started to try and climb up them. I had the camera out already from taking a picture of Trevor before going to school so I snapped it and then caught him as he started to fall. He gets around so fast now, we're going to have to keep our eye on him. It helps that Trevor and Colin will tell me if Logan starts to get anywhere further than the family room. It's nice to have little helpers who are always watching out for their baby brother.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Pepperoni Pan Pizza

There is a show on PBS called America's Test Kitchen and a few weeks ago they did a show on pizza and showed a recipe for pan pizza. It looked so good and easy to make so I've been wanting to try it out. Well I tried it tonight and it was a hit. Trevor, Colin and I ate one pizza ourselves and Dave will get to chow down on the second one whenever he gets home from work. So here is the recipe....enjoy!

Sauce
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Cook oil and garlic in medium saucepan over low heat until garlic is soft (about 2 minutes). Add tomatoes and cook on medium heat until thickened, 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Makes enough for 3 pizzas, this recipe makes 2 pizzas, so freeze extra sauce.)

Dough
Heat 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk in microwave until warm (not HOT). Add 2 teaspoons sugar and 2 tablespoons olive oil and mix.
In a standing mixer measure 2 1/3 cups flour, 1 package yeast, and 1/2 tablespoons salt. Turn mixer on low and add milk. Mix until combined and then raise speed to medium and mix until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Shape dough into a ball and place in a bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 30 minutes.

Coat the bottom of two round cake pans with 3 tablespoons each Olive Oil. Divide dough in half and shape into balls. Roll out dough into 9 inch circles and then press into oiled pans. Cover pans and let rise for about 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Top pizza with 2/3 cups sauce (leaving a 1/2-inch border around the sides), cheese and pepperoni. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Let the pizza sit in pans one minute and the remove.

Mmmm, mmmm good!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Rollie Pollie

Yesterday Logan was crawling around and got on a blanket that was on the ground. He grabbed the corner of the blanket and started to roll around. He got all rolled up in the blanket and all I could do was laugh at him and try to get a picture. This was a time I wished I had a video camera. It was so funny to watch and when I unrolled him he was just smiling like he was having the best time ever.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Our little characters

On Sunday Dave and I were sitting on the couch watching Trevor play. He had a piece of his train track that he was using as a sword and he was fighting off monsters and bad guys. As we watched him I said, "Wouldn't that be such a good book? A story about a little boy who imagines things and then they start to happen." That got us talking and all day long we kept throwing out ideas on what the story would be like, how it would work and different ideas on what would happen. On Wednesday I started writing it and this morning we finally figured out what we want the whole thing to be. Of course we had to name the main character Trevor and he had to have a little brother named Colin. I have so many stories I've started and never finished but I've not been as excited about one as I am about this one. Even if nothing comes of it, how fun for our boys to sit and listen as we read a story with them in it. So stay tuned, maybe as I write I'll put little bits and pieces of it on my blog so you can all tell me what you think and maybe some day Trevor will be the next Harry Potter....

Friday, August 1, 2008

Our beautiful boys

I was at the grocery store today and the boys wanted to "walk". We were in the produce section and they both wanted a "stick" - the green twist ties that are with the fruit and veggie bags. So I give them each two and suddenly they're swords and the boys are running around fighting off the bad guys. There was an older women they ran past and she laughed. I ran into her again and she said to me, "My granddaughter was just here visiting me. She is eight and she wore me out. I am still tired." Then, before walking away she said, "You have a beautiful family."
When I was pregnant with Trevor I was sure he was a girl. I wanted a girl since I was so girly and I knew Dave would be good with a little girl. Then when Colin came along I wanted another boy. Sometimes I'd get excited at the thought of having a girl but I wanted a friend for Trevor. When I was pregnant with Logan I pretended to want a girl because everyone else wanted me to have a girl but really I just wanted another boy. There are some families we know who have all boys and I would say to Dave, "I want to be just like them." People always ask if we're going to try for a girl, but I don't feel like we're missing out by not having one. Besides it's nice being the only girl in the house.


Today was a good play day for Trevor and Colin until the biting and hitting started. But even when they do fight they're over it two seconds later and back to playing. They do love one another and have often said they are best friends. And lately they are getting good at getting into trouble together. Logan kept smooshing his face against his crib but when I grabbed the camera, of course he stopped. He is such a good baby and it's so easy to just leave him in his crib with some toys when I need to do something because I know he'll be okay. But then when I come to get him he gives me the biggest smile ever and I pick him up and he just lays against me. I love that. I hope when he's old enough he can join his brothers, and instead of being the 3rd wheel, they can be like the 3 Musketeers.