Whole Wheat Pumpkin Biscotti

In between the first and second baking of these wonderfully delicious Biscotti (I used 2cups whole wheat, 1/2 cup white) I had to run down to the elementary school to take care of some business.  And by business I mean making sure some 2nd graders stop stealing the handball from Ethan.

He came home yesterday and said he 'felt like crying' because if he returns the ball to the noon duty he gets a panther pat (which you collect to gain different prizes), but he hasn't been able to because when he's done playing the big kids take the ball.  They don't want to wait for him to return it and then check it out from the noon duties themselves. 

I felt like a total hit man (woman) when I showed up at the school and told Ethan to "Show me the boys". 

Of course being 6 he was playing with his friends, too busy to point them out.  So the hit was canceled and I ended up chatting with the noon duty about the situation.  She was really sweet and said she was going to give Ethan the ever important panther pat the next day, and keep her eyes peeled for the handball stealers.













I am glad Ethan could talk to me and I could help out.  But ironically I am also grateful to these boys for toughening Ethan up, heaven knows I don't.

It's true, he is definitely the spoiled one of the family.  I don't know what it is.  He's the only boy.  He's the youngest.  He's constantly telling me how much he loves me.  He says his prayers no fail every night with no reminders and always remembers to bless those in need.  He compliments my outfits and tells me how beautiful I am.  That's probably it.  I always succumb to flattery.  Even when he's saying it in a very Eddie Haskell like way it still works.

But I didn't baby him with my baking today.  Ethan loves biscotti, but I am not too sure he'll go for this spiced whole wheat pumpkin biscotti. 

See, I can totally practice Tough Love!

Just say NO!!!

I am open and frank with my children.  Any question they ask, I answer.  Knowledge they need, I'll give it.  I want to be their main source of information.  I want to give them the scoop first.

When I load up books in my arms from the Goodwill I am happy to include books that will provide teaching moments for the kids.

"What are Drugs?" was a book I happily read to Emry many years ago when she was 5 or 6.  Emry has always devoured books, especially informative books dealing with science, the body or animals. She's a smart girl and being a smart mom I could touch on the subject of drugs.

I happily talked about what a wonder the human body is.

We talked about health & different hazards.

Alcohol & Smoking.  No problem.

 

 Marijuana.  O.K. I can hastily touch on that.  I am sure this book is almost done.

 Cocaine and Crack????  Did I just say that to my 5 year old????

Is my darling girl with big bright curious eyes & pigtails staring at a crack pipe???

We put that book back on the shelf.  Emry would get it out every once in a while and flip through it. 

Luckily we've moved on to other topics.  She's 11 now so we've had to have more serious talks.  About growing up and ALL that entails.

Emry woke up this morning in a panic because she slept in late and wanted to get to school early so she could read in the library (as she does most mornings). 

Her school has lots of great books & I am sure a few inappropriate ones as well. 

But when you learn about crack cocaine at 5, really, what's considered inappropriate?

Tag, I am It

1. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis & wake up everyday with a new pain located somewhere on my body.

2. I can't sing, but I always RSVP.

3. My 2 sisters & I slept in one bed growing up.  Cozy.  The six brothers slept in bunk beds.

4. I loathe putting on makeup.   Hence the natural look, which isn't working so much for me as I am aging.

5. I talk faster than anyone.  I consciously have to slow myself down.

6. I eat fast too.  I prefer to think I am just passionate about my food.

7. I am way more in love with my husband now than I was 15 years ago.  Feel free to vomit.

8. Nuts are basically a food group for me.  I eat them with anything and on everything.

9. I went to college for 5 years & only have an AA to show for it.  Don't switch majors so often is my advice.

10. I grew up painfully shy.  My children will not be painfully shy.  Nothing good comes of it.

11. I went to school in Hawaii to get away from a boyfriend I couldn't break up with.  It worked.





one. What is your favorite jewelry accessory? Why?

My wedding ring.  It's the only real piece of jewelery I own.

two. What is the best roller coaster you have ever ridden? 

I can't stand roller coasters anymore.  A few years ago I rode on one at Lagoon in Utah called the Spider and it was so scary I seriously thought I was going to die.  Emry rode it a dozen times of course.

three. How many years have you been a part of blogger?

1.5 glorious years of talking about myself 

four. If you have a college degree, what is it in? If not, what grade are you in?

I am in 18th grade (see #9 above)

five. How many times have you watched the movie, Finding Nemo?

Once.  Shawshank Redemption on the other hand, probably about 7 times.

six. What is your favorite Bible character & why?


Daniel in the Lions Den.  The faith Daniel had was incredible & inspiring.  He was a true man of God.

seven. What is your favorite season?

Fall.  Something about the leaves, putting on a sweater, drinking hot chocolate every morning (& night) and snuggling under blankets by the fire calls to me. 

eight. What is the most disgusting thing you have ever eaten?

Bad seafood.  It's so hard to get it just perfect.  The only seafood I cook is salmon & shrimp, all the rest I leave up to a good restaurant.

nine. What is one of your new years resolutions?

To say a morning prayer regularly and drink a big glass of water first thing upon waking.

ten. How fast can you say, "Peter Piper Picked a Pepper" without messing it up? ;D

Very fast!  (#5 above)

White Christmas?

Not Exactly.

More like an Ocean Blue Christmas.  (Isn't that a band?)  Wednesday was rumored to be in the 80's so I took the kiddos to the beach.  Glenn had to work, sigh......the beach is his favorite place in the world.

Emry thinks it's super fun to start off with her clothes on, then a swimsuit, then her wetsuit.  Basically she just wants to make sure everything she's brought gets sufficiently soaked.

Ethan was punching me then decided to punch the camera.  Glenn says he needs a brother. 

This is Ethan and his best friend Emily.  Emily's dad Matt is one of Glenn's best friends from growing up, the guy who told us to move to Temecula.

I was in the hopital with Ethan (March 2005) when I got news Emily's mom (Emily was 7 months) had died.  She suffered from Postpartum-Psychosis.  She was the most on the ball mom you ever met.  After Emily was born everything changed.

Matt was left with 4 daughters to raise alone.  He has done a PHENOMENAL job.  Emily is such a Tomboy, the brother Ethan never had.

Just like his Dad!

Thank you Emry for taking a pic of me.  Thanks for not getting annoyed when I kept having you do retakes until you got one I liked. 

My lunch.  My salads always consists of whatever's in the fridge.  Today's mix has lettuce, brussel sprouts, yams, tomato, red pepper, rosemary pecans, Costco deli turkey (the good kind), and of course a vinaigrette.

I also brought some greek yogurt with bananas and cocoa pita chips.  Cocoa pita chips are Awesome!  I've only found them at one store here but I am on the lookout for more.  They are super crunchy and very cocoa-y and not too sweet.  Basically perfect.

Jen was also passing out Saltine Toffee.  Nothing like sitting around in your bathing suit eating Christmas goodies.

Our version of a snowball fight.

My niece Kylee (in white) and her friend Sophie (in stripes).

Emry making a dribble castle.

It was a lovely surprise to run into a bunch of friends from church.  There were about a dozen moms and about 50,000 kids.  Don't believe me?

Sue (left) has 6 + her friends 4, Jen (shading her eyes) has 4, she is Matt's sister and brought 2 of his girls, Jeannette (my sister in stripes) has 3, I have 3, Rachel 4, Chelsea 4, Tanya 4, Julie 2, Dyana 3, Melanie 2 and a few more moms and kids who I didn't know that well.

Either we're the best moms ever, or we're just hoping we'll wear them all out and they'll sleep for 20 hours.

Time to go fill the van with sand and then ignore it and hope Glenn cleans out the car.

 Who needs snow anyway?

Spiced Cranberry Pecans

I got hooked on Trader Joe's Rosemary Pecans a while back.  Those suckers are GOOD!  But you pay almost $4 for a small bag, and I just couldn't do it anymore.  I consulted my good friend Google and found a RECIPE.

Lucky for me Rosemary grows all around my neighborhood and is plentiful.  The pecans and cranberries are from Costco.  This whole pan, which is equivalent to 6 of the Trader Joe bags, cost me about $6.  That means I cut the cost by 75%.  Not too shabby.

I toss a handful of these on my daily (sometimes 2x a day) salad.  They definitely make the salad.  As do leftover yams, avocado, roast chicken, baked tofu and anything else I can cram in.

I am not sure why Lila thought holding the backdrop for this photo was boring.  Doesn't every kid think helping out with a photo shoot is super fun.  I am sure Megan will tell her mom it's the funnest play date she's ever had.

L.A.

Glenn & I gave Lila tickets to 'Wicked' for her birthday.  We also gave my Mom a ticket for Christmas.  Glenn, Emry & I have all seen it and fell under it's spell so one by one we're forcing everyone we love to go.

Saturday morning Emry, Lila, my Mom & I settled in for the 90 mile drive to L.A.   First stop was the ultra posh outdoor mall 'The Grove'.  They have such nice bathrooms they actually have attendants there you tip.  Since my girls wanted to feel rich and famous they left a buck on the tray.   Over the top I know.

My cousin Emerald met us for lunch.  She lives in the Hollywood hills, is a model, has a  fabulous figure, long legs, beautiful wardrobe, blond hair and had just come from yoga.  Totally L.A.

I must say she is one of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet.  Might have something to do with the fact that she was raised in Utah and not L.A.  Just a guess.

Oh my gosh my lunch was so good!!!!   There is a big open Farmer's Market at 'The Grove' and I opted for Brazilian BBQ.  Lila had a frozen lemonade (her stomach was quesy) Mom & Emry had tacos, Emerald had a pastrami sandwich and I had black beans, squash, fried plantains, a piece of fried yucca & a salad with garlic chicken, beets, eggplant, tomato, broccoli and some pineapple for dessert.  DELICIOUS!

American Girl.  We love this store.  My girls don't have the dolls as there is no way I can bring myself to spend over $100 on those precious dolls.  But it is so fun to visit.

Okay I actually lied. I would totally drop tons of cash here on all the adorable clothes and furniture, but I kinda like having a roof over my head.

After dropping my Mom and Lila off at the Pantages Theatre, Emry & I hit the streets to kill 3 hours.  I wanted to hit up the L.A. thrift stores but Emry was having none of that.  Hollywood Boulevard was calling her name.

She wanted to take a picture with this Transformer because she knew Ethan would think it was cool.

Around this time with all the people, performers and the crazy L.A. vibe, Emry & I started to get a little silly ourselves.

Love, love, love Julie Andrews.  The Sound of Music is one of our all time favorites.  Emry also had to give some love to Jack Sparrow.

I had to pay tribute to one of my favorites.  And how crazy is this -  between getting home from L.A. and leaving to spend New Years at our friends, I turned on Dick Clark's New Years Rock'in Eve for literally 2 minutes to see - Lionel Richie!   Crazy!!!  Twice in one day!!!

Granted one was just his name & the other a short clip on T.V., but Lionel is all sorts of awesomeness!

Against my better judgment I have let Emry check out those huge, gross Ripley's Believe It or Not books from the library.  They unfortunately come out with a new one every year.  She is so into those books.  She sees the museums every time we go to a big city and has always wanted to go.

Since it was just the two of us I decided it was a good time to fulfill one of her life's dreams.

Apparently Asians do a lot of crazy stuff because they were featured prominently in this museum.

Artwork of Jimmi Hendrix made soley of guitar picks.

A prom dress made entirely of Starburst wrappers.  It took a very dedicated mother 6 years to make this, along with the shoes, vest & accessories.   I think it's kind of cool.   No longer am I throwing away my bags from flax and wheat.  Emry is in for a great surprise dontcha think?  

I just remembered I am not crafty.  I guess my daughter can breath easy knowing she won't smell of oats at her prom.

This was the best part.  There was this room where they played club music and you could dance in front of a screen that showed different shadows of you.

This pic is of Emry (x 2) but after a few minutes I couldn't take it and had to bust a move.  I started out wimpy but soon was jumping around not caring how many people were walking by.

I guess those street performers got into our head.

We had 10 minutes to wait for Lila and my Mom so we did what any normal mother/daughter would do, took tons of self portraits.  This is L.A. after all, it's preferable to be self-absorbed.

Oh yeah, the reason we came.  My mom and Lila thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Upon arriving home I put a Disney movie on for the kids so Glenn & I could go to a friends.  It should surprise no one that we came home around 11:15 and I promptly fell asleep while the kids and Glenn held out to see the ball drop.

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!