Birthday Freebies

Remember when I signed up for all those birthday freebies one day before my birthday last year, and I didn't get any of them (except for the one from Benihana's) because I had signed up too late?

Well, all my hard work from last year has paid off.

Here are the best ones that I've gotten so far:

- Free burger from Ruby Tuesday's
- Free entree from Noodles and Company
- Free Brownie Sundae from Chili's
- Buy one get one free from Cold Stone Creamery
- Free Magnificent Seven breakfast from Perkins

I have until about one week after my birthday to utilize them all.

P.S. My birthday is this Saturday. (Please take note and send cards.)

My Before and After Pictures

Okay, so go back and watch this video that I posted the other day, otherwise none of this is going to make any sense to you. To recap, the video was showing how some of those "BEFORE" and "AFTER" photos that people do are actually created within a span of a few hours (with the "AFTER" shot taken first, and the "BEFORE" shot taken afterward). So I set out to do it for myself (and for the entertainment of all of you).

I went to Body Pump at the YMCA in the morning, and then came home and had my 8-year-old daughter take the "AFTER" picture. A couple hours later, I realized I hadn't greased up for the picture, like I had wanted to do. I decided not to go back and re-do it, because it took several shots to get one that I was happy with. And, really, how many times can I say to my daughter, "Here, take some more pictures of Mommy flexing." (Do you think any other mother in the universe is having their daughter take over 20 pictures of them flexing? My kids are SO lucky!)

Okay, so then later I went to Mom's Night Out, where there was a wide array of food that I ate throughout the night (chips and dips, cheese, egg rolls, s'more cupcakes, cookies, salad, a carbonated pink lemonade drink, chocolate, mini carrot cake cupcakes, popcorn, etc.). Then I came home, woke my husband up at 1:30 in the morning, and had him take the "BEFORE" picture. (Do you think any other husband in the universe is being woken up at 1:30 in the morning to take pictures of his wife and her bloated belly? He is SO lucky!)

So, without further ado, here it is:

Some tidbits about the photos:

1) Yes, I am sucking my gut in, in the "AFTER" picture (or, as I like to call it, flexing my ab muscles).
2) I think I might look more "pregnant" than "fat" in the "BEFORE" picture.
3) I didn't bother photoshopping anything in the "AFTER" photo. Or tanning. Too lazy.
4) I didn't purposely eat more than I normally eat at a Mom's Night Out because I knew I was doing this photo thing. That is just how I normally eat at a Mom's Night Out (which means that I look like this AT LEAST once a month, people! AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH!)

So, this just goes to show that image means nothing. We are all much more than our outside appearances.

Or, in the wise words of the wonderful Justine Bateman, "You look how you look, and you look (bleep)ing great."

Dog Park

Watch the video that I posted yesterday, and get ready for my own version of it. I guess I'm not going to post pictures of it today, because I still need to take the "Before" picture, and I won't be doing that until later tonight. So, I will build up your anticipation for this moment a little bit longer, because it's going to be good.

But, in other news, Peace and I went to the dog park yesterday. We don't have a dog, so we took two of Peace's toy dogs (Zimmy and Pluto) and brought them to the dog park. We were so cute. I wish I had a picture of us there with our toy dogs amongst all the people milling about with their real dogs.

Before and After!

Okay, so watch this video because I'm going to post pictures of me doing this TOMORROW!

What I Got Vern for Valentine's Day

This is what I got Vern for Valentine's Day:

It's from this website called I Want to Draw a Cat for You (which we heard about from the television show Shark Tank).

It's from my ongoing stream of campy gifts that I give to Vernon (see here, for my post about the personalized t-shirts). It was surprisingly hard to think of something creative to have that guy draw a cat of, plus, I didn't have much time to think of it since I wanted to get the order in in time to get it for Valentine's Day... so, a cat family in a hot air balloon with Homer Simpson on the ground saying "D'oh" is what I came up with. Not as random and creative as I could have been, but there you go.

We are a family that loves do to campy things in general. Things like going to Roswell, New Mexico for the 60th Anniversary of the Roswell Incident UFO Festival (note: not as impressive as it sounds), or entering eating challenges, or going to see the Bridges of Madison County, or getting a family caricature done every year, or going to see the Giant Ball of Twine, or other various, random, campy things that make up the story of our lives.

Why do we do it, you may ask? Because it's fun. Because it's fun.

Happy Valentine's Day

From my family to yours...

Click here to see pictures from Valentine's past.

(This year, we didn't have a red shirt for Peace to wear so we wrapped her in a red blanket.)

My Sister, My Husband

Every three months, I do this thing called Boobs and Brunch for my photography business. (I got the idea from this blog post.) Basically, it's where I offer mini-sessions at a reduced rate, capturing the nursing relationship between mother and child.

So, I was promoting this event on my facebook page, and this is how my sister responded, and then my husband's response to my sister's response:

I have a good husband, right? I know.

Beef and Rice

This is from a recipe that my mom used to make (except she made it with pork chops), and it was my FAVORITE recipe growing up. I absolutely loved it, and still do! I used to make it in an electric frying pan, but I don't really like using electric frying pans anymore because of leaching of the materials they're made out of, so I do it like this:

1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey, whatever)
1 onion, diced
64 oz tomato juice
4 cups rice
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

In a big pot, boil rice, tomato juice, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for however long the rice takes to cook (my brown rice takes around 40 minutes). Meanwhile, brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet. Add to the rice about 10 minutes before the rice is done cooking.

This makes A LOT, but my family still manages to eat it all in one sitting. Hurray for us!

Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup

This soup is super yummy. I found the original recipe here, but mixed it up a little bit (see below):

1 lb northern white beans, dry, which will equal about 2 cups if you're buying in bulk. Soak and cook these (which will yield 5-6 cups of cooked beans)
1-1/2 tsp sage leaf
4 cups chicken broth
4 cloves garlic (or 2 tsp garlic powder)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt

Cook, puree, and serve!

Chicken and Roasted Garlic Lasagna

Here is the original recipe, which I think I pretty much followed, except for when I didn't.

Chop all of these ingredients together and mix thoroughly:
Chicken, cut-up (from when I do this here, but you can do whatever)
2 bulbs roasted garlic (see below for how to roast garlic)
1/2 onion, diced
5 baby bell peppers (or 1 big red bell pepper)
6 fresh basil leaves (or 5 tsp dried basil)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine:
16 oz cottage cheese (or ricotta)
5 basil leaves, chopped (or 4 tsp dried basil)
Oregano and nutmeg to taste

9 lasagna noodles
26 oz spaghetti sauce
8 oz mozzarella cheese

Layer:
Noodles, cottage cheese mixture, chicken mixture, mozzarella cheese, and sauce. Repeat, and finish with noodles and sauce.

Bake, covered, at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.

HOW TO ROAST THE GARLIC:
Slice top off a head of garlic. Place on tinfoil. Drizzle with olive oil and salt. Fold tinfoil over. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Squeeze to remove roasted cloves.

A Joke I Made Up

What do video stores, travel agencies, and cd places have in common?

They are all stores that have not slept with my mother.

Sh*t People Say

We've all seen this video, right?



It came out last week and is already up to 324,601 views. Literally, three days before this came out, I was coming up with the same idea. I even took notes, people. I even took notes:

(That list goes on for two pages, and includes 41 different ideas.)

Obviously, I can't do it now. (The person who did it did a mighty fine job with it already. Excellent quality. Better acting that I could have ever done. Funny material.) Which is just fine because, despite the fact that I was going to make one, I'm getting kind of tired of all the "Sh*t People Say" videos. I mean, sure, they're kind of cool at first, because you find something you can relate to in what they're saying, and it's funny. You're laughing at yourself, in a way, and I enjoy laughing at myself.

But then, everybody's doing it, and pretty soon it's all, "Sh*t My Mailman Says" and "Sh*t My Tarantula Says" and it's not cool anymore.

But maybe I'll make a video called "Sh*t Allison Says" and it will be my own personal joke with myself.

In it I will say things like:

"Do you want to see my muscles?"

and

"Vernon had to give a pelvic exam when he was in chiropractic college. Isn't that weird?"

and

"I met Michael Moore at a church in New York City once. He's Catholic, you know."

and

"My wrist bones are so big."

and

"I got these jeans for only $1 at the thrift store."

and I will end with something about how much I love Papa Murphy's pizza, and how I tell people that they should get a new job to do something that makes them happy, and how I'm really good at having sex.

And I will watch this video over and over and I will laugh and laugh because I can totally relate to everything that is being said.

It will be hilarious.

Super Bowl Sunday

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday, I'm going to share with you this video of my six-year-old son throwing a football:


Ezra is really good at sports. He can throw a good spiral almost 100% of the time (whereas, in comparison, I can only throw a good spiral 37% of the time). He is also good at hitting and throwing a baseball and swimming and running really fast.

So, what am I going to do with all his unbridled talent and enthusiasm for sports?

Nothing.

My natural inclination toward this approached was re-affirmed in reading the book Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne. In it, Payne talked about how:

• Children under ages 8-10 need unstructured play more than they need sports, both for the activity and for the developmental benefits it offers.

• According to studies reported in the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 35% of participants withdraw each year from organized sports, while up to 67% of participants drop out of sports between the ages of 7 and 18. The Journal of Sports Behavior reported that by 10th grade, more than 90% of high school sophomores had dropped out of an organized sport they'd started.

• When kids younger than 10 or 11 become occupied with organized sports, especially to the exclusion of time for free, unstructured play, that involvement can cut crudely across the progression through a variety of play stages that are vitally important to their development. 

• Equally disheartening is the fact that so many kids are quitting as they approach adolescence,  just when the structures and rigors of organized sports have so much to offer them in their quest for individuality, independence, and maturity.

And I'm not worried about my kids having to "catch up" with sports by the time they are 11 or 12, because they can actually learn how to play sports without organized lessons (as they have already proven). They have learned how to swim without lessons, they have learned how to throw balls and run and catch without lessons, they have learned the rules of the games without lessons... and all of this just by DOING.

Playing. Learning. Loving. Growing.

Note: I am not saying that organized sports are wrong or bad, but, as Payne writes,  "...too may scheduled activities may limit a child’s ability to direct themselves, to fill their own time, to find and follow their own path." and "I am not against sports, I am against the way that we’ve transposed adult endeavors – with an adult sense of competition, fanaticism, and consumerism – into children’s lives."

Also, this is what Ezra has going on in his room. He colored all these pictures of team logos:

And, P.S., Ezra will be cheering for the New York Giants tonight. (In the video, he was even wearing the Giants colors and pretending he was Eli Manning.)

Red Thai Chicken Curry Soup

They made this soup at the co-op and I sampled some and thought it was very yummy, so I wrote down the ingredients that they had listed (although they did not include the amounts), and came up with this (which is pretty darn amazing!):

1 yam (or sweet potato, whatever)
1 onion, diced
Chicken, cut up (from when I do this)
1 T cilantro
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 c. chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
1 T red curry paste
1 T cornstarch

Heat everything through, simmer for a little bit, and serve!

Greek Pastitsio

I can't remember where I found this recipe, but it is really amazing! Such a new and different taste (as you can see from the combination of ingredients below) that was quite delightful. Something I have never experienced before with a food. The whole family enjoyed it as well.

16 oz elbow macaroni
1 lb ground beef
26 oz spaghetti sauce
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds
1 cup white sauce (heat 1 cup milk, 1 tsp butter, and 3 T flour until it thickens)
4 eggs
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 tsp nutmeg

Cook beef. Add spaghetti sauce, cinnamon, and fennel. Make the white sauce. Stir 1/2 of the white sauce into eggs, then return to the pot and add the feta and the nutmeg.

Layer 1/2 pasta, all of the meat, 1/2 pasta, all of the white sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

One More Talking Point

One more thing that I say in social situations:

5. "Do you want to see my muscles?" (And then I proceed to flex for them.)

I am so weird.

Ezra Wears Underwear!

It's the dawning of a new era: Ezra has started wearing underwear! Up until now, he has always gone commando. But now, he feels like wearing underwear.

He was excited about this and showed his neighbor-friend his new pair of boxers, while he was wearing them, and the neighbor-boy was, like, "Uh, yeah." Clearly not understanding Ezra's excitement and probably figuring that everybody already wears underwear to begin with, so why should that be a big deal? Well, it is a big deal, neighbor-boy. It is.