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Halloween 2015 Was Rainy

Posted by Carolyn on November 3, 2015 Leave a Comment

The title says it all.  Halloween was rainy.  It didn’t stop us, though!  We headed out with Jane, Rory, Poppy, and Rachel.

This was the third year we’ve spent Halloween with this crew.  I hope we it was the third out of infinity.  It will be fun when we go trick or treating with Rory’s kids (because obviously he will marry one of our girls and Rory’s kids will, in turn, be our grandchildren… anyway…).

Before we went trick or treating Alma said to Rachel, “We will go trick or treating, then we will come home and Mommy will take a picture of you tickling Harriet.”  This girl has such an amazing memory.  It blows my mind sometimes.  I mean, maybe she had recently seen this photo from three years ago:

andthenthey halloween2015 2Or this photo from two years ago:

andthenthey halloween2015 1But we certainly hadn’t talked about how Rachel loves to recreate this photo.  I love seeing how Alma’s and Harriet’s minds work and grow and learn.

So, we had Rachel over for dinner, then we grabbing umbrellas, boots and glowsticks and were out for about an hour.  We were soaked.  We had buckets full of candy.  It was great.

We came home and warmed up.

And, of course, Rachel tickled Harriet:

andthenthey halloween2015 3The one thing I didn’t realize is that in the first two photos, you can see Alma’s little feet walking in the corner of the frame.  We’ll have to make sure to include that in future years.

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Posted in: a little moment, ate., gave thanks., parented. | Tagged: friends, halloween, holidays, rachel

Pumpkin Beer Fest, 2015

Posted by Carolyn on October 26, 2015 4 Comments
Pumpkin Beer Fest, 2015

andthenthey pumpkin beer 1This past weekend, we had six of our very best friends over for a Pumpkin Beer Festival.  We all provided a couple pumpkin beers, and we had a taste test.  Jesse bought a bunch of snacks, the kids were all put to bed, and we all got to tasting.

andthenthey pumpkin beer 2We had a 5 point rating system, but we could award half points if necessary (so really a 10 point rating system, but who’s counting).  As the night wore on, we discussed that it should have been a more specific scale, but it is what it is.  Next year, we’ll adopt the following scoring guide:

5 points:  I would drink more of this RIGHT NOW, and never want to drink anything else.
4 points:  I would totally drink this again and again.
3 points:  I would drink this if someone offered it to me, but probably wouldn’t buy it.
2 points:  Would drink if the only choices were this and Bud.
1 point:  Nope. Not ever again.

But, like I said, we didn’t use this scale, so each of us had our own individual scale, which, I suppose, would still provide accurate results, as long as each of us stuck to our own individual scale.

Here was our process:

  • Pour each person a taste of one beer.
  • Drink taste of beer.
  • Score beer.
  • Average scores.
  • Repeat.

As it turned out, we had two of the first beer we tried, so we went back to it in the end to ensure accuracy (given the fact that beer tasting tends to alter states of being, the more beer is tasted).  This will prove to you the efficacy of our process, given the following results.

andthenthey pumpkin beer 4

  1. The Great Pumpkin by Elysian Brewing. Score: 4.714. This was by far our favorite beer.  Elysian is doing something right with all their pumpkin beers.  They should be, since they make so many of them.  The pumpkin-ness was perfect, and it was easy to drink with smooth flavors and an excellent aftertaste.
  2. Pumpkick by New Belgium. Score: 4.357.  This was the first pumpkin beer that I ever liked.  As a wise beer expert once said, “It tastes like Thanksgiving in a bottle.”  Yes, folks, truer words were never spoken.  I love the hint of cranberry, the undertones of lemongrass.  This is a pumpkin beer for the people.
  3. Pumpkin Patch Ale by Rogue. Score: 4.285714.  The thing I liked most about this beer was the almost champagne-like fizziness.  I also like that it’s from Oregon, making it the first of our local beers to make the list.  Third place isn’t a bad finish for our beer loving state.
  4. Big Black Jack by Oakshire.  Score: 4.0714. The first Eugene beer on the list!  I’ve always loved Oakshire, so I’m happy to see it doing so well on our highly prestigious Pumpkin Beer Fest List.  Jesse describes this beer as “a walk down a dark, shadowy trail in the forest.”  Couldn’t have said it better myself!
  5. Punkin Ale by Dogfishhead. Score: 4.000.  This was one of my favorites.  It was easy to drink, and had a lovely pumpkin-ness.  Jesse didn’t like it at all, but I think it’s because he had just had a handful of sour-cream and onion corn puffs (not well known as being a palate cleanser).  I also really liked the label, but that didn’t factor into my scoring.
  6. America’s Original Pumpkin Ale by Buffalo Bill’s. Score: 3.857142.  This beer claims to be the original pumpkin beer (as seen in the name), and that might be true, but I would bet that some home-brewers tried it first.  This was certainly the most pumpkin-pie tasting beer of the bunch.  The pumpkin was very strong, but not unpleasant.
  7. Squash Buckler by Fort George Brewery. Score: 3.5714. This was our first beer, when our palates were clean, our blood was pure, our anticipation high.  It was good, but not amazing.  This beer didn’t taste like pumpkin at all, oddly.
  8. Squash Buckler by Fort George Brewery. Score: 3.07142515. This was our last beer, when our palates were buzzing, our blood was pumping, our anticipation satiated.  It was still good, but still not amazing.  But, our rating system was proved successful to within a half a point.
  9. Pumpkinhead by Shipyard. Score: 2.500. Neither Jesse, nor I, can remember anything specific about this beer, so that’s a pretty good description for why it’s scored to low.02
  10. Imperial Pumpkin Sleigh’r by Ninkasi Brewing. Score: 1.280. A disappointing finish for another Eugene beer.  This was the worst beer by a landslide.  Just look at that score.  More than a whole point lower than the number nine beer.  It didn’t taste good, and we were a bit offended by the feeling that it was a bit of a cop-out.  You can’t just add pumpkin to your winter seasonal and expect people to be amazed.

There you have it, folks.  What do you think of our rankings?  If you hold your own Pumpkin Beer Fest, let me know how your ranking shape up!

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Posted in: ate., beer | Tagged: autumn, beer, beer tasting, friends, pumpkin beer, pumpkin beer fest

Whole30 – Halfway Point Reflections

Posted by Carolyn on September 16, 2015 1 Comment

Jesse and I, along with some friends, have embarked upon a Whole30 journey.  I’ve been interested in Whole30 for a while, and when Elise did it, I decided to finally give it a try.  I mentioned it to Jesse, fully expecting him to poo poo the idea, but he was on board.  We planned to do it for September for a few reasons, mostly because we wouldn’t be missing any of the fun food holidays, and it’s a perfect time with the feeling of fresh starts that accompany Autumn.

The first few days were rough, I’m not going to lie.  I had headaches, and basically felt incredibly hungover.  I was grumpy and mean and unhappy.  It was crazy to me that going without certain foods was making me feel so bad.  It wasn’t that I missed the foods – it was that my body seemed to be rebelling against the new diet.  How had I become so addicted to such crap?  It really felt like I was going through withdrawals (though, I must admit that I don’t really know what that feels like…).

By the third or fourth day, I was feeling much better.  I was letting myself eat whenever I felt hungry, trying to keep the temptations to a minimum.  I figured that if I was never super hungry, I would never crave the things I couldn’t have.

We have been cooking lots of great recipes, and I don’t have any complaints about what we’re eating.  I don’t even miss the things that are forbidden.  Sure, sometimes I think that some chèvre or blue cheese would taste good, but everything is good and tasty enough without it.

I thought I would miss bread, but it’s the last thing I miss.  I realized that the bread isn’t what makes a sandwich taste good.  I’ve been eating tuna on salad and it’s just as good as on bread.  No, it’s better.  Last night we had people over for dinner and served bread with this amazing shepherd’s pie recipe.  I looked around the table and realized I wasn’t jealous of the people eating bread.  It just isn’t necessary.

One of the very best things I’ve learned is how to make my own mayonnaise.  It’s seriously so amazingly good, I’ll never go back.  It’s especially good knowing that the egg used to make it is under a day old.  I usually go out, grab an egg directly from the coop and make the mayo that way.  It has to be room temperature, so it’s perfect, and oh so fresh!

For the first week, I was snacking more, trying to keep the hangry away.  I would eat fruit, almond butter, and Lara bars almost every day.  Now, into my third week, I’ve noticed that I don’t need to snack as much.  If I need something, I grab an apple – another great reason to do Whole30 in September.

As of right now, I’m planning on starting to add back foods on October 1st.  I’m going to start with pumpkin beer.  Beyond that, I think I’ll wait until October 8th to add anything else back in (that’s when most of our friends will be done with their 30 days).  I’ll start with cheeses and see how I feel.  Then probably peas and other legumes.  Those are the only things I really feel like I miss, so I might just stop there for another 30 days or so.

If you’re thinking of trying Whole30 for yourself, I say go for it.  Give it at least a week before you even start to decide if you’ll continue.  The first days are hard, but worth it.

Having risen from the first week fog, Jesse put together some tips for our group that I’m going to share here, too:

I’ve been thinking of what I would do differently if we did this again…so I thought I’d share!

First off make/buy your sauces before you start, including:
-Mayo
-Ketchup/bbq sauce substitute
-Salad dressing
-Ranch

Make a plan for lunches when you won’t have leftovers. I often went out to eat when I didn’t bring something from home and this has been very difficult to find somewhere that has diet-approved stuff. Probably having a steady supply of salad stuff and protein on hand is a good place to start.

Figure out a good snack food. For us it’s mixed nuts (and I throw in raisins for dessert). Also have a decent supply of Lara bars for the emergencies (they’re expensive and pretty processed, but when it’s that or hangriness…)

Screw sticking to the “Whole30” only stuff! I’m eating fruit dammit! And I’m having a glass of apple juice when I want one! Even with a few raisins now and then, it’s still better than a bowl of ice cream.

To save you some time, I’ve looked at all the labels for some things and found these to be good:
-Sweet Creek Dill Pickles (Literally almost the only brand out of dozens)
-Applewood hot dogs (not that hot dogs should be considered healthy in any sense)
-Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Coffee. Have plenty on hand and make sure it’s the good stuff that you don’t need to cut with cream and sugar. If you’re thinking of giving it up, wait. I tried the first day and was miserable, one thing at a time here folks.

Try not to think of the replacement things that you find as the originals. Any bbq sauce you make WILL NOT be as good as Stubb’s…it just won’t…BUT it still can be good if you just think of it as a sauce you put on your pulled pork, not a bbq sauce.

Try to limit going out or going to other people’s houses (if they aren’t doing the diet as well) for the first week. Watching Alma and Harriet eat corn on the cob, eat chips and salsa, and have dessert was tough, I can’t lie.

That’s all I can think of for now…I think I’ve already lost about three pounds of brain matter on this diet.

andthenthey whole30halfway1 andthenthey whole30halfway2These are a couple of our Whole30 meals… see, not too shabby!  Chicken nuggets with almond crust (way better than traditional!), sweet potato fries, broccoli and homemade ketchup and mayo.  Smoked pulled pork, sweet potato slider ‘buns,’ green beans, coleslaw.  Also, I don’t think I’ll ever figure out how to photograph food.

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Posted in: ate. | Tagged: cooking, food, friends, recipe, strong, whole30

Gratitude – One Little Word – 2014

Posted by Carolyn on December 30, 2014 3 Comments

365 Days of GratitudeMy One Little Word for 2014 was Gratitude.  As I said in my post from last December, I’ve done a One Little Word, but it’s never been incredibly meaningful.  Until 2014, when my One Little Word was GRATITUDE.

I was very intentional with my word.  I thought about it every single day.  I wrote down what I was grateful for every single day.  The wordle above shows all those words.  The cool thing about wordle, is that the frequency of each word increases the size of the word in the final word cloud.

So, clearly, in 2014 I was most grateful for my friends.  Followed closely by my mom, my dad, Jesse, family, and home.  Then, a little smaller is Harriet, Alma, church, Eugene, alone, parents, and Autumn.  Isn’t that just lovely?

Looking back at my list of words, I am a little surprised that Jesse isn’t bigger.  I think this is because it’s obvious that I’m grateful for Jesse (and Harriet and Alma).  I probably could have filled a whole year writing down just their names, but I was trying to go beyond the obvious and think about what I was seriously, truly grateful for each day.

That was usually special time with friends – time that rejuvenated me – time that expanded me – time that filled me.  I can still feel that feeling of gratitude that comes with good time with good friends.  I’m not sure that I had ever paid much attention to the enormous amount of gratitude I felt for my friends.

Or my parents.  Sure, I have always appreciated them.  They are amazing people.  I was lucky to have been raised by my mom and dad (and my step-dad and step-mom).  This year, it is clear that they do a lot for me and my family.  They watch my kids (and love them in the process) so I can work, or get things done that would be difficult with 2 toddlers in tow.  They feed us food.  They keep us company.  They have ideas for me, and encourage me.

I have loved 2014.  I have really loved giving thanks every single day.  I think I’ll miss it.  I’ll always be grateful.

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Posted in: friday gratitudes, gave thanks., gratitude, one little word | Tagged: friday gratitudes, friends, grateful, gratitude, Gratitudes, one little word

Pumpkin Patch 2014

Posted by Carolyn on October 4, 2014 1 Comment

We are super lucky to have an amazing community of families.  We do play groups once a month, and October is always a favorite.  We head to Northern Lights Christmas Tree Farm for their hayride and pumpkins.  It’s not a super crazy place for pumpkins, so it’s perfect for toddlers and their little siblings.

This was the third annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  Our group has changed quite a bit in the past three years!  We’ve added families; families have added members.

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2014 - Not the best group shot... the tractor was about to take off!
2014 – Not the best group shot… the tractor was about to take off!

There was recently an article about playgroups that went around the internet, talking about the magic that these groups can hold.  Some have it, some don’t.  Ours has it.  I know that even when our kids are scattered and in different schools, we will still have our community.  Even if we only get together once a year (likely with the annual pumpkin patch trip!), I know these families will always be a part of our lives.bIMG_4268 bIMG_4278 bIMG_4289 bIMG_4294 bIMG_4300 bIMG_4316 bIMG_4344 bIMG_4385 bIMG_4391 bIMG_4407 bIMG_4424 bIMG_4436 bIMG_4457 bIMG_4478 bIMG_4479 bIMG_4485 bIMG_4497 bIMG_4515 bIMG_4517 bIMG_4565

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Posted in: gave thanks., nature, parented. | Tagged: autumn, friends, playgroup, pumpkin, pumpkin patch

Teddy Bear Picnic

Posted by Carolyn on July 22, 2014 1 Comment

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Posted in: a little moment, learned., parented. | Tagged: friends, photography, teddy bear picnic

Friday Gratitudes 26 & 27

Posted by Carolyn on July 11, 2014 2 Comments

Halfway through the year, and still loving this project.  I love taking the time to be grateful every single day.  I (obviously) don’t always get around to posting these every Friday, right on time, but I do always getting around to writing down my gratitude of the day on my calendar list.

20140701_174334 20140702_115514 20140702_180341(0) 20140704_082744 20140705_094931 20140705_105706 20140706_113603 20140706_125415 20140710_153017 20140710_160126Friday June 27: Laughter. We had a fun triple date with great friends.  Lots of good drinks, food, and laughter.

Saturday June 28: Breakfast.

Sunday June 29: Ice Cream. Alma had her first experience with an ice cream truck!  What magic!

Monday June 30:  Parks.

Tuesday July 1: Friends. We have some good ones!

Wednesday July 2: Adventure. We rode the ‘green bus,’ saw some construction, ran around the campus, and went to the track meet.  Good, good, good day.

Thursday July 3: Hult. We went to buy tickets to the Oregon Bach Festival kids concert and spent quite a long time exploring the Hult Center and all of its cool art.

Friday July 4: ‘Merica.Duh.

Saturday July 5: OBF. Oregon Bach Festival offers such great things for everyone, including concerts for kids.  This year it was Sleeping Beauty, which was a long poem performed by one man with multimedia art on a projector, and a pianist.  It was pretty cool, and Alma was enthralled!

Sunday July 6: Beach.  Oh how I love the beach.

Monday July 7:  Family.

Tuesday July 8:  Eugene.

Wednesday July 9: Runners.  Both the common nouns – Alma really loves running on the track at Hayward Field – and the proper nouns – the Runners are fun friends!

Thursday July 10: Swimming. Alma is getting so brave jumping in the water again and again and again and again and again!  And Harriet loves floating and splashing and laughing.

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Posted in: friday gratitudes, gave thanks., gratitude, one little word | Tagged: family, friday gratitudes, friends, gratitude, happy, one little word

Friday gratitudes 14

Posted by andthenthey on April 11, 2014 Leave a Comment

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Friday the 4th:  Fridays.  I was really feeling gratitude for having fridays.  It could be because I had worked a full week, and was just very happy to be home for a whole weekend with my family.

Saturday the 5th: Henrys.

Sunday the 6th: Jerry’s.   We started working on our fun shelving project!

Monday the 7th: BBQ.  Yay spring!

Tuesday the 8th: Gram’s House. I know.  Two words.  But one idea.

Wednesday the 9th: Sunshine.

Thursday the 10th: Magic. I had a wonderfully magic day with my students – full of social justice, self advocacy, hijinks, and hilarity.  Then I got to go meet the magic that is baby Ashland.  My sweet and talented friend Evynne and her husband, Peter have a new baby. I was lucky enough to take them dinner, and hold Ashland while they ate.  I was blown away by the positivity that all three of the Hollens were exuding.  And I was blown away with the realization of how fast this flys by.  My baby was Ashland’s size mere months ago.  My oh my.

 

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Posted in: friday gratitudes, gave thanks., gratitude, one little word, parented., photography | Tagged: babies, evynne hollens, friends, gratitude, peter hollens

Sarah Guthu – a new painting

Posted by andthenthey on March 31, 2014 3 Comments

I had a friend in high school who was extremely talented, even back then. We spent hours in the theater at school creating sets, listening to music, and painting.  My most favorite memory of Sarah is when we were doing Once Upon a Mattress and she was tasked with painting a huge sheet of plywood, that was supposed to look like a constellation of a dragon, that would be hung in the wizard’s chambers.  I ended up helping her on it quite a bit, and it was amazing.  It ended up being almost a pointillism style dragon.  Sadly, for some reason (maybe she remembers), the director didn’t use it in the staging.  It should have been used.  I still remember the hours spent making little dots on a huge black board, having great conversations with a great friend.

Since graduation I’m not sure if I’ve even seen her, but I’ve kept up with her on Facebook, and on her beautiful blog.  Sarah is the kind of person who, I’m convinced, has more than 24 hours in her day.  She is always posting about her creative endeavors, culinary adventures, academic pursuits, and so much more.  I don’t know how she does so much, but however she does it, and whatever she does, it is sure to be inspiring.  A couple years ago she posted about making sugar plums, and I commented that I didn’t know they were actual things (I thought they were just fairy/ballet related ideas), and she generously and graciously sent me a box to try.  That’s just the kind of person she is – the best kind of person.

I have been eying her paintings for years.  She has a really interesting, original style.  Just a couple months ago, she started selling prints of her paintings on Society6.   I decided that I needed a print, and luckily she posted one of my favorites right around my birthday.Screenshot (2)

“Breath” has always intrigued me.  I love the motion in the girl’s pose.  I love the colors.  I love the mystery.  Since I hung it in my house, I’ve been trying to figure out the story in the painting.  It’s a little creepy, but really, truly beautiful.  When I asked Alma who the girl was, she said, “Mommy.”  I love this, because part of why I chose this painting is because it reminded me of how I picture both of my daughters looking someday.  The girl in the painting looks like she’s on an adventure, and I hope for many adventures for my girls.

And Then They - Breath by Sarah Guthu

We hung it over our front table, in the living room.  I love that, while a print, it is also a great piece of art.  Not just a poster or something.  Having real art makes me feel fancy (this is making me think that I should do posts about all our art, because looking around the house, I’m realizing that we actually have a lot of original, beautiful artwork!).

Breath Closeup
(the weird spots are glares from the glass in the frame, not part of the painting…)

So, if you’re looking for some creative inspiration, check out Sarah’s blog.  And if you’re looking for some beautiful art for your home, check out her Society6 shop.  AND, if you’re looking for an original, one-of-a-kind dress for a little lady in your life, look for her soon to come Etsy shop of literary inspired children clothes (areyoukiddingme?).

Thanks, Sarah, for your wonderful art, your incredible spirit, your constant inspiration, and for the memories.

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Posted in: created., gave thanks., writing | Tagged: art, Breath, friends, painting, Sarah Guthu

Novruz 2014, Toddler Style

Posted by andthenthey on March 22, 2014 6 Comments

And Then They - 01 NovruzHappy Novruz, everyone!  It’s spring!  I love spring so much.  The flowers, sunshine, the green.  It’s my second favorite time of year, but every year at this time, it’s my favorite time of year.

And Then They - 02 DyeingThis year we had our playgroup over for a Novruz celebration.  We started by dyeing eggs, which was a wonderfully frantic (and surprisingly mess-free) dash.  We had nine two-year-olds, and various aged babies along for the ride. 

Jesse explained the meaning of Novruz – the toddlers listened very attentively – all the earth, wind, fire, water, rebirth, newness.  Then, we went outside to jump over the fire!

And Then They - 04 Hattie And Then They - 05 AlmaI love this ritual of leaving all our troubles, and worries, and problems in the fire.  I’m always one for a fresh, clean start – especially when spring is springing.

It was an amazingly beautiful day, so we all went to the backyard to play with all of Alma’s bikes, and her slide.  It was perfect.  I love how our kids are old enough to pretty much just play.  We don’t have to hover and help like we did last year at this time.  It gives us grown-ups time to chat and catch up. 

And Then They - 06 PlayingWe are so blessed to be a part of this great group of families.  We all (pretty much) met through the Birth Center, where most of us had our first babies.  After getting to know each other at the weekly Baby Clinics, the idea was born to have a monthly playgroup.  Not only do we all have two-year-olds, but most of us are on the second round these days, too.  It’s wonderful.

After playing for a while, we had to play the egg game.  I think Alma’s friend Beatrix won this year.

And Then They - 07 Egg GameWe were also really lucky to have our authentic Azerbaijani friend, Elvin up for the celebration.  It’s fun having him so close this year (he’s studying in Long Beach, California).  He’s a great dost, and both our girls truly love him.  So do we.

And Then They - Azeri

Happy Novruz!

 

And Then They - 03 Samani and Eggs

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Posted in: ate., created., gave thanks., learned., new recipe, parented., photography | Tagged: Azerbaijan, celebrating, friends, friendship, kids, Novruz, Parenting, spring, toddlers
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If God said, ‘Rumi pay homage to everything that has helped you enter my arms,’ there would not be one experience of my life, not one thought, not one feeling, nor any act, I would not bow to. -Rumi

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