Friday, January 27, 2012

Insta - Friday

Yes Insta- Friday is back! For those of you who didn't follow my other blog this is a fun little Friday blog party where I link up with my friends blog, liferearranged.com, and we all share pictures from our week that we took with our cell phones. It is a fun way to see the week in review. So with out further ado Tracy's week via cell phone pics:









On Friday (a week ago) I wanted to give a friend a bunch of socks, I know random. Since sock themselves are not that exciting I thought they need a creative wrap, thus came..sock pops!  Amazed at how cute they turned out a picture was a must.






And as must of you know I celebrated my birthday.  For my birthday Matt took me away for the night! Which included a stop at my favorite cupcake shop in Los Olivos, Enjoy! LOVE.

The next day we spent the day at Ikea where we got awesome new highchair for the twins :







Here they are testing them out Monday! They are perfect, small foot print, light weight, and fold flat for storage. Yes it is the small things in life.








Speaking of...Serafina was very excited because I found her and Hannah matching outfits. "The Girls" were very styling.








For some reason this bird, who probably doesn't need an introduction. has been a major player in our house. My 4 year old loves this bad boy.  He sleeps with him, eats with him, takes him to school , to the store, awanas, you name it this bird does does it.  

Including:






Playing real life angry bird.








Oh yes with parental involvement.

Yes this does include lobbing the red stuff bird as hard as you can at each other.

Yes there has been tears.

Yes I am over 30 and know better.

Yes we have so much fun we are laughing so hard it hurts by the time it we are done.



And last but not least:





Oh yeah this did happen. Sometime life is messy. But you just have to roll with the punches!

Happy Friday!




life rearranged

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Neat stuff in the night sky

Serafina latched on to a little astronomical event tonight - the moon/venus conjunction. As we were driving along after dinner, I merely pointed it out to her (it was on her side of the car). She must have been paying attention as later at home she hands me the pictured art project and says she tried to make the star go around the moon but that didn't work out. (Just as well.) I was impressed!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Enjoy Cupcakes: That was part of it...

Inspired by Tracy and Matt's recent visit to Enjoy Cupcakes in Los Olivos, Lynn got the hankering... So she, Papa Bill, Serafina, Matteo, and Jamie headed south for a Sunday drive. And we took the backroad, that is, Foxen Canyon Road. We pointed out stuff we found interesting, stopped where we wanted to, and eventually took a little tour of Los Olivos. The photos include Rancho Sisquoc Winery and gravel art, the Chapel of San Ramon and cemetery (and a little math subtraction), Enjoy Cupcakes (fantastic!), and Los Olivos and its fountains, buildings, parks, boci ball, missing railroad bridges, and more...

Photos: http://jf2.com/120122/

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

They grow 'em big in Nipomo...

And how about that brother and sister-in-law providing The World's Largest Gummy Worm that Tracy ended up using as a birthday candle holder?! Wow.

All done!

Papa Bill entered the kitchen declaring, "We're done, where do I put him?"

t.h.i.r.t.y.

 Thirty

30

Three Zero

Trente

Treinta

dreißig

dertig

No matter how you put it today January 18th, 2012  I turn thirty.

I just keep singing Tim Mcgraw's song "In my Next Thirty Years" probably because I am a die hard country music fan and I really like the song.





"Hey my next thirty years I'm going to have some fun.
Try to forget about all the crazy things I've done.
Maybe now I've conquered all my adolescence fears
Figure out just what I'm doing here
In my next thirty years."












Yeah.

I am 30.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Back in the Engineer's Seat Again

Finally!... Matteo got to run trains with Papa Bill. The poor kid was nearly beside himself waiting for the railroad to get cleaned up, equipment to get fixed up, batteries to charge, and everything else Papa Bill has been doing to reinvigorate the railroad this past week.

But, today; it was train-running day!

Photos: http://jf2.com/pbjrr/120115.html

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Trippin' the Light Fantastic

Every once in a while, Robob will get a hankering to take the kids to Madonna Inn. There's probably no pinker, fancier eatin' joint in these here parts, but that's not the point. It's the dancing. Robob loves to see the kids enjoying the live "big band" music and ballroom dancing.

All the photos: http://JF2.com/120114/

Sunday, January 8, 2012

In the Raw – Really

by Nana

When Tracy and her brother, Trevor, were babes in grade school, a group of us "moms” started a cookie group.  Every Christmas for over twenty years we have met and exchanged homemade cookies and recipes specially wrapped for the holidays. Each year when I get home from the party, the family swarms the cookies to “taste” all of them. This year I decided to share with the cookie group my new passion – raw cooking (not cooking in the raw).  I am still cringing as I think of my friends’ families and husbands “tasting” the raw cookies I brought to the exchange – were they wondering if I finally went off the deep end? For the first time, I am actually afraid that I may not be invited back to the cookie group!  

Why raw?

Tracy and I are trying to develop healthy eating habits for our family.  The kids have a shelf in the fridge that they have “free range” to graze from 24/7.  You guessed it - it is full of fruits and veggies.  We are trying to practice what we preach so we are “attempting” to keep the kitchen free of sugary, empty-calorie foods for the health of us all.  (Okay, usually, this has not been true during the holiday season).

The problem creeps up in the evenings.  After the kids are tucked in bed the “boys” usually retire to the deck to discuss whatever guys talk about when they are free of “women folk” on dark starry nights.  Tracy and I end up in the living room with “chick shows” on the TV, working on our projects, sharing our own conversations.  Often it seems like the only thing needed to round out the evening would be something sweet to eat.  Get the picture?

Enter a favorite website – mynewroots.blogspot.com.  Here I began this journey into a world of creating delicious, nutritious dishes that fed both the body and the soul.  Often when someone mentions “raw food” we think of carrots, lettuce, radishes – rabbit food.  Yes, that is a part of it, but it is the “raw” desserts that won me over.  When I want a sweet treat in the evening I grab a raw peanut butter cookie from the refrigerator.  It more than satisfies my sweet craving, I feel full, and the calories are not empty. What have I eaten? Mixed nuts, peanuts, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla.  That’s it – no refined flour, sugar, or other ingredients one is used to seeing in baked goods.  These raw ingredients are dropped in a food processor, shaped into cookies, and are ready to eat – no need to bake!  Yumm!

Part of living at the compound is having a constant stream of folks from all ages and stages coming and going – sharing ideas, recipes, and habits, good and bad – so we learn from everyone; we try to embrace the good ideas and grow from the others.  Currently – “going raw” seems like one of the good ideas!

Here is a great peanutbutter cookie recipe:

I just used the nuts that I had. It doesn't matter which type, just 2 cups in all.

1/2 c. pecans
1 c. cashews
1/2 c. almonds
1 c. dates
3/4 c. peanut butter (with no sugar; ingredients should be peanuts and salt)
1/4 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla

Blend all in food processor, then mold/place into single servings. No baking, just refrigerate or freeze.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

A little getaway for Jamie and Lynn

Lynn and I thoroughly enjoyed our little getaway to points south this Monday and Tuesday. After all these years on the central coast, we finally visited Nojoqui Falls (about 1.5 miles east of Highway 101 south of Buellton). If you visit the JF2 link below, you'll see photos from our trip to the falls along with: Cold Spring Tavern and the Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge, Lake Cachuma vista points, the Hotel Corque in Solvang, the Picasso/Braque Cubist exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, some State Street sights, and Gainey Winery.

Photos: http://JF2.com/120102/

 

Sunday, January 1, 2012

2012 - New Year's Resolutions (revised by Nana)

Tracy's - get prego  Keep Lynn from getting a dog.

Lynn's - keep Tracy from getting prego  Get a dog.

Matt - keep Lynn and Tracy separated.

Jamie - stay out of it. 

Robob - it's 2000 and what?

And this THIS is life at the compound.

AMEN.