The Little Multi-tasker

This is what Andrew was up to today as I was trying to get us ready to head out the door:


It was quite inconvenient to clean up as I was already in a hurry, but it was just one of those things that you have to laugh at. I find myself in that situation a lot as a mom.

Andrew put this bag around his neck yesterday and was carrying it around everywhere.

The bag is right, he sure is a "multi tasker on the go". He is simultaneously a lot of trouble and absolutely adorable.

Words of Wisdom Part 1

My mom's dad, my "Papa Jim," loves sending mail. His two favorite things to send you are photos that you have sent to him and little slips of paper with words of wisdom, jokes, or quotations by famous people on them. I'm afraid I'm going to demonstrate that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because I'm going to insert occasional words of wisdom and quotations that I find interesting into my blog. I just can't help myself! So, here is Words of Wisdom Part 1:

A woman at church a few weeks ago quoted counsel given by a past church leader regarding purchases. Before you buy something, ask yourself if either of these statements are true: "I can't afford it, even though I want it" or "I can afford it, but I don't need it."

My sister-in-law, Rebecca, told me about this quotation that her husband saw at work. This should be my guide when I'm about to plan a way-more-time-consuming-and-elaborate-than-necessary dinner when company is coming over. It was something to the effect of: "Yes, you are able to, but should you?"

Do you have any words of wisdom to share?

A Fabulous, Sunny Day

Monday was a beautiful, sunny day so Andrew, Paul, and I headed out to the skateboard park in Battle Ground. Paul got more comfortable on his new skateboard while Andrew and I watched all the skaters and bikers. Andrew even got to take a couple of rides on the skateboard with Paul pushing him. Then we walked to Burgerville for lunch where I tried the portabello mushroom sandwich and Andrew swiped a balloon. Paul tied the balloon to Andrew's wrist and Andrew had a great time playing with it all the way until dinner time.


Here's a slideshow with more photos from the day. This is my first time putting a picasa slideshow in my blog. I love learning new things!

Weekend in Seattle

Last weekend we headed up to Seattle to visit one of Paul's friends from Carnegie Mellon, Diya. We had a great time eating Chinese and Indian food (at two different restaurants, that is) as well as getting the classic American breakfast experience at Denny's. We also went to Coldstone twice--yum! Andrew loved Coldstone. It was at one entrance of a shopping mall and there were benches and a big open area in the entrance to the mall right outside the Coldstone, so Andrew had a great time alternating between eating our ice cream and running around looking like a little pengiun flapping his wings in his puffy coat. On Saturday we took a two-hour cruise of the harbor and Lake Union. We got to see the houseboat from Sleepless in Seattle and we got to go through the locks between the harbor and the lake (it's like an elevator for a boat). All in all it was a fun trip. We're so glad we planned the trip when we did because the Friday we left for Seattle we found out about Paul's job offer.

Paul's New Job

Yay, Paul got a job offer! He got a 6-month contract position working as an interaction designer for American Eagle in Pittsburgh, PA. We don't know what his exact start date will be, but it sounds like they are wanting him to start at the beginning of February. He will probably leave here very soon, like this week sometime maybe, with plans to find an apartment for us and move our stuff in before Andrew and I fly out. We never thought we'd be going back to Pittsburgh, but it will actually work out really well for several reasons:

• All our stuff is still in storage in Pittsburgh, so it is the easiest place for us to move.
• Pittsburgh is pretty close to other east coast cities, and a good location to be when looking for another job.
  
• We already have ward friends and a few of Paul's school friends still in Pittsburgh.
• I'm really looking forward to the church institute class I used to attend there every Wednesday, after which we have a potluck lunch.
  
• We know the area so it will be easy to get settled in.
• We'll be there in the spring and early summer, so we'll enjoy the best seasons there.
• Pittsburgh is a great city, with good public transportation, lots of beautiful parks, cool museums, etc.

Paul is a little bummed that he'll have to look for another job 6 months from now, but I'm very grateful that he got an offer. I know that God blesses us with what is best for us, even if it isn't what we had in mind. In fact, it seems that's been a recurring theme in my life lately. When things don't go according to my plans, they usually turn out better. Even Paul's unemployment for the last 5 months has brought us many blessings. He and Andrew have gotten to spend a lot of time together and we've been able to spend a lot of time together as a family. Andrew has become very well attached to Paul and loves being with him. I've really enjoyed having Paul around as well as being around our families here in Vancouver. Paul was also able to help his sister and brother-in-law some on their house remodeling while we stayed there, and he was able to increase some of his job skills too.

So, there you have it. We'll be returning to Pittsburgh!

Latest Andrew Updates

Andrew in front of a sunny window

Andrew wearing Daddy's shirt

Andrew LOVES brooms

What has Andrew been up to lately?

• He switched from two one-hour naps a day to one two-hour nap a day. This threw me off at first because I was so attached to showering in the morning during his first nap, but I've come to realize that a two-hour nap is just what I need in order to expand my workout time, take a shower, and then maybe even get something done. It's also super cool that we can now get out of the house for errands during the morning
• He loves brooms, dustpans, vacuums as long as they aren't turned on, and dusters. Paul and I found a little dust-pan and brush set in the dollar section of Target so we got it for Andrew so he has his own to play with that aren't actually dirty.
  
• He likes throwing things down the stairs and putting objects into containers. Sometimes I find random things in his crib that he's chucked over the side at some point during the day. I had the bread machine open and sitting on the kitchen floor, and I turned around to find a garden glove in it. The other day he carried one of my shoes from near the front door into the kitchen, lifted the lid on the trash can, and threw my shoe in.
• He's getting taller all the time, so things that used to be out of reach are now accessible. Ahh! At least he can't open doors yet, whew.
  
• He enjoys handing things to people and trying to feed people his food.

Penne Pasta with Tuna and Mozzarella

As promised in my previous post, here is one of my favorite pasta recipes. It is simple, easy, quick, and delicious. It probably isn't low-cal, but as I mentioned before, I made it with whole wheat pasta the other day and it was great. The original recipe was found in my mom's copy of Italian Cooking Encyclopedia. My comments/alterations are in italics.

1 lb. penne or other short pasta

1 Tbs capers, rinsed well

2 cloves garlic

3 Tbs chopped fresh parsley (I use Italian flat-leaf parsley, and I often use extra)

1 (7 oz) can tuna, drained (preferably canned in olive oil) (sometimes I use 2 cans of solid white Albacore since mine are only 5-oz each and that's not much tuna for 1 lb pasta)

5 Tbs olive oil

salt and black pepper (One of the keys to this dish is plenty of salt. Keep adding until it tastes right to you)

2/3 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small dice (Sometimes I go ahead and use the whole 8-oz ball of fresh mozz, and it's good)

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and drop in pasta. Cook until al dente. Drain. While the pasta cooks, chop the capers and garlic and combine with parsley, tuna, oil, and season with salt and pepper. Combine pasta, tuna sauce, and mozzarella in large frying pan (I just use the pot I boiled the pasta in; fewer pans to clean later). Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until cheese just begins to melt. Serve immediately.

New Year's Resolutions

I've come up with a couple of goals to work on during the coming year. I may add to this list once I think of some more. For now, here they are:

• Continue working out 5-6 days a week. I started working out more consistently a few weeks or so ago and I've been pretty good about getting in the workouts most days. I've been very blessed to have the use of Terry and Emma's eliptical machine and wall-mounted swivel flat-screen HDTV with satalite in the basement for my use. I look forward every day to watching What Not To Wear recordings off the DVR while I work out. Now that I have the consistency pretty well in place, I'm working on doing harder, longer workouts so I can start to see some results. I've really been digging the Trainer Momma blog lately (see the link to her blog in the right-hand side-bar) and it's giving me inspiration to make working out and being fit a higher priority in my life for the long-term.

• Make the switch to more whole grains, especially rice and pasta. My plan for the rice is to just not buy white rice. Once Paul gets a job and we move to wherever we're going, I'll have to stock up on all the staples, and I'll just buy brown instead of white rice. One of my friends in Pittsburgh did that, so she brought brown rice every time we had something involving rice at our weekly Institute luncheons, and most of the time I hardly noticed the difference once the rice was covered up with whatever we were eating it with. I've used whole grain pastas here and there for a while now. I discovered a couple of years ago that if I use whole wheat pasta in something really flavorful, like lasagna, it's hard to tell the difference. I then started using more whole grain pasta once Andrew started eating real solid foods because I wanted to make his macaroni and cheese (practically a food group to the boy) as healthy as possible. Then on Friday night I made one of my favorites, Penne Pasta with Tuna and Mozzarella (I'll post the recipe next) with whole wheat pasta, and even though that dish doesn't have a heavy sauce to hide the whole wheat-ness of the pasta, it was a great success! I'm looking forward to trying to use whole grain pastas more.

So, there they are. I know that working out and eating better are such cliche new year's resolutions, but at least I have sort-of specific goals and plans on how to achieve them. Anyone want to post a comment saying what their goals for the coming year are?