Goodbye Old Friend

My sister and her family had to make an extremely hard decision today. Their sweet boy, Buddy, has been suffering with cancer and was in too much pain. This post is for them, too. Love you guys!

Dear Buddy,

Did you know I love you lots? I love how whenever Cynce planted a garden, you ate all the produce before it could be harvested (including whole pumpkins), I love the time Matty meant to give you a piece of pepperoni from his pizza and you decided you would eat the entire slice instead, I love the memory of the time Omid was sleeping on the deck chair and you climbed on top of him (all 120 lbs of you!) and wanted to nap too, I love how you got up to say hello to us - even on your worst days when you could hardly walk with hip pain; somehow you always managed a big grin.

I will miss you so much. You were the sweetest Lab I've ever known. Please say hi to Einstein and Dumpling for me. I will see you all on the other side. I will miss you lots!! Run free sweet boy!

Love,

Erin

Buddy 1996-2009

When I'm gone, release me, let me go...

you must not tie yourself to me with tears.

You can only guess how much you gave me in happiness.

Grieve for me a while, if grieve you must,

then let your grief be comforted by trust.

And when you must come this way alone,

I'll greet you with a lick and a bark, "welcome home!"

- anonymous

Brave Girls Camp

I want to attend this camp. How fun! Thanks to Lara Blair for the link!

http://www.bravegirlsclub.com/

Craft Box

We used to have a large Rubbermaid container we called 'the craft box.' The craft box held so many things: string, stickers, paper, ribbon, pom poms, Sculpey, glitter, paint, puffy paint, glue, stamps, chip board, etc. If it was crafty, it was in the box. Now that my kids are older, the craft box has been whittled down to supplies they need for school projects.

Yesterday, Nas needed some supplies. I went to the craft box to see what I could find. Inside, I found two cards she had made during a card making phase. These cards must have been 5-6 years old. I showed Nas and she and I just started laughing. Then I started crying. These cards were made during such a happy-go lucky time in Nas' life. Now Nas is faced with so much pressure at school, Running Start and at home. It made me really sad for the happier, less stressful times. She is growing up too fast and will be off to college in a year and a half. Unbelievable!

Enjoy these photos of the cards. I love you Nas (& you too, Matty)!

In case you can't read it: Remember, you can do ANYTHING, even if you are mixed up. Just like the mixed up star! Believe in yourself!

Try This!

Like Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joes? Give this wine a try. Omid and I found it at Winco & Fred Meyer. It's much better than Charles Shaw.

Make this!

Here is a recipe I found a few years ago in The Oregonian's Food Day section. The recipe is for pumpkin bread. The main difference from most of my other pumpkin bread recipes is that it calls for only 2 eggs, vs 4 and 1/3 c shortening vs 1 cup of oil. This bread still turned out pretty moist. I plan to bake muffins for Friday (fun day at work!) and put some sort of streusel topping on them (for you, Annette!).

The Los Angeles Times' Pumpkin Bread (November 9, 1972)

1/3 c veg shortening
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. In a large bowl, cream together shortening & b. sugar. Blend in eggs, milk and pumpkin. Sift flour, b. powder, salt, soda, cinnamon & nutmeg together and stir into pumpkin mixture. Stir in raisins (if using).
Turn batter into prepared pan and bake one hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool before slicing.
Enjoy!

Netflix This!

What a great movie! It's about two young women who live in NYC. One is an Orthodox Jew & the other Muslim. Both have parents who believe in arranged marriages. This film is so well done. We laughed a lot. Omid even liked the movie which is saying a whole lot! Rent it! It's good!

Bat Mitzvah!

Today I went to my first Bat Mitzvah. It was so exciting and simply beautiful! If you knew me during the 80s...I wanted to convert to Judaism. I had Jewish friends and was so envious of their traditions. I attended High Holy Days and thought it was so neat! Today was no exception. It was just wonderful. Though...I am quite comfortable in my Christianity and no longer wish to convert. :)

The ark with the Torah inside.

Gabbi Josh Lake reading prayers.


Lindsay & her Gabbi (a Gabbi is an assistant to a Rabbi).



Lindsay with her two grandmothers & father. The grandmothers gave Lindsay a kippah to wear (female version of the yarmulke).

New kippah!

Lindsay's grandfather wore this prayer shawl many years ago for his Bar Mitzvah. He passed it down to Lindsay's father to wear at his Bar Mitzvah. Today, it was passed down to Lindsay to wear for her Bat Mitzvah.

Passing of the prayer shawl.

Reading from the Torah.

The Torah.

Lindsay had to carry the Torah around the guests.

Proudly carrying the Torah.

After all the prayers & readings, Steve & Janet gave Lindsay her very own prayer shawl that she can pass down to her daughters.


This service was so neat! I had to wipe away tears not once but twice. So moving! Congratulations on your Bat Mitzvah Lindsay!!!

My favorite saying from the service: O Rock of Israel, come to Israel's help.

Make This!

Super Duper Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken (or cream of anything soup)
3/4 soup can of white wine
4 slices Swiss cheese
croutons
slivered almonds (optional)

Grease a 9x13 Pyrex. Place chicken breasts in Pyrex. Put Swiss cheese on top of chicken. Mix soup & wine together. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle croutons & almonds. Bake at 350* for 1 1/4 - 1 1/ hours.

NOTE: I always make my own croutons for this dish. They taste much better! Use lots of butter if you make your own.

Mt St Helens Fieldtrip

I was lucky enough to help out with the 8th grade field trip today. It was so much fun and the scenery was so beautiful. Our field trip was on the south side of the mountain. There were very few reminders of the eruption in 1980. This tree was one of the few survivors. Survivor tree
Carpet moss

The mountain was behind the fog. This is Lahar Viewpoint.



Lahar river bed

Matty's science teacher. So cute! Wish he'd been my 8th grade science teacher.

Lava canyon

Suspension bridge

Warning! These signs were everywhere. A man and his 5 year old son were killed last summer because they ignored the sign.

Pay attention!

Ape Cave entrance

Inside Ape Cave

Matty emerging from the lava crawl at Trail of Two Forests.

Yay!

My turn! If I look suspicious...it's because Mr. Hunting said to turn right inside the crawl & a bunch of 8th grade boys told me to turn left. I took Mr. Hunting's advice.

I made it! Thanks Mr. Hunting!

Woo!

Field Trip!

Tomorrow...I will be going to Mt. St. Helens with the 8th grade class at Skyridge. I am so excited! I've always wanted to go there. Wish us luck that 1) it doesn't rain and 2) she doesn't decide to blow. :)

Make this!!

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen. It's a keeper!

Enchilada soup

Basketball season...here we come!

We are starting basketball season early in our house. Last night, Matty tried out for the Camas Select Boys Basketball team. We found out today that he made the team! Yay! Here's to hoping I sell lots of dog treats to pay for the select fees!

Ready for the farm stand!

A fresh batch ready to go! I just love this crate. I found similar ones at Freddys, Michaels & The Home Store for $19.99+. This cute crate was purchased at WinCo for $4.49. Gotta love WinCo!

Make these!

http://mermag.blogspot.com/2009/09/jons-super-stellar.html

These are so cute & easy! I just made one. Try it!

ALSO: I think I am going to try and find the adorable William Wegman Weimaraner material (or if I get really lucky...a Vizsla print) and make one of these cute bags. I don't sew...but I know I could make one of these!

http://www.youcanmakethis.com/blog/674/make-a-no-sew-knotted-handkerchief-bag.html

Did you watch The Office wedding last night? So cute! To quote Nas:"That was the best Office episode ever!"

Update on Nas & Running Start: She is doing exceptionally well in English 101. Supercallafragilisticexpialadociously well. This should come as no suprise to those of you who know Nas. She sets goals, she exceeds them. I wish I had her drive & determiniation. Let me just say that she is doing much better in her English 101 class at 15 years old than I did when I took the same class at 18! Remember her name - she will go far that girl!

Yesterday, Remy & I walked around campus while waiting for Nas' class to finish. There are some really beautiful old maples on the college campus. They are currently changing colors and I had to stop Remy mid-walk (not a happy dog) just to snap a photo of one particular tree. It was simply gorgeous. The sun was setting & the colors were so vibrant. I wished that Omid was with me so he could photograph the tree (he is the photographer in the fam, not me. Omid likes to play around with f-stops, white balance, & all that jazz. I like to point & shoot). Well, here is my best. It's not an "Omid" shot, but it will do. Just look at that color!

Good News!

Barky Bits & Bones are now available at the DeTemple Farm Stand.

Lots of farm fresh produce & baked goods available. Stop by on Sundays from 11-3 and Wednesdays from 2-6.

DeTemple Farm Stand
1919 232nd Avenue
Camas, WA 98607

Aash-e Adas Cook Off!

Omid's mom, Fari is known for her lentil soup (aka: aash-e adas). It's simply delicious. Omid thought he could do a better job. Today...the two had a cook off. Omid's aash-e adas.
Fari's aash-e adas.


The competitors.

My contribution: Lentil candles!



Nas & Mansour




The Judges!



The verdict: Fari's soup won 6 votes to 5. I thought they were both equally delicious. Fari's soup was traditional while Omid's soup was 'nouveau.'

The big winner? My candles. Everyone liked them. :)
**Special thanks to Arezoujoon for the candle idea. I stole it from her!!