“They are having catfood soup, carrotcakes, ice cream tea, and cheesy muffins. And they’re having vanilla cookies because a girl is coming over, and a girl can’t eat catfood!”
“And now the animals have changed up the menu to a different style. Because now they are having marshmallows and vanilla ice cream and grape sandwiches. And honey cereal. They changed the menu now, Dad!”
— Lucy explaining her dolls’ and stuffed animals’ lunch menu
When August began, we didn’t have any plans to upgrade our two main computers. However, as the month closes, that’s exactly what’s happened.
Earlier this month, we purchased a new iMac to replace one we’d sold to my sister. Well, recently we learned that a nephew about to start college was in the market for an inexpensive Macbook. So, to make a long story short, he now has Jill’s old laptop and Jill has a pretty nifty early Christmas present: a Macbook Pro.
So, here’s the second Mac unboxing video of the month. Since it’s Jill’s computer, she and the kid nudged out Wubie a bit this time (though he does make an appearance at the end.) We should now be set computer-wise for a while (I think!)
Lucy: (yelling) “Aaaaaaaah, YOGURT!” Mom: “You’re screaming at your yogurt cup?”
Lucy: (calmly) “Yes, it won’t open.”
— another conversation overheard at the dinner table
Last night we went to Los Altos for a movie night. It was pretty neat. The city shut down a section of Main Street, set up a screen, and propped up a movie projector. In addition to this, they also brought in a jumpy house, a couple of slides, balloons, etc.. Needless to say, Lucy gave all of this a very hearty approval.
The kid had a blast, running from slide to jumpy house to slide again. She also got a balloon (in the shape of a pink bunny of course) and some body art. I managed to shoot some video. Hopefully, Jill will be posting some pics too.
Here’s a Thanksgiving video we shot at Gma Vita’s house. We missed Nina and Larry (hope you had a great TDay in Texas!), Sam and family (how’s the weather in Oregon?), Tisa and Jim (any updates from Kauai?) and Mario and family (I finally saw the Star Trek movie—it rocked!) this year. However, we made the best of it here in California. We’ll post some pics shortly.
PS: if this (294 MB) video runs too slow for you, you can try one of the following:
1) Turn off HD (press play on video, then click “HD is On” so that it turns off.
2) Try downloading the video and viewing it locally on your computer. Here’s the download link:
In an attempt to eat a bit better, I’ve been making green smoothies a few times a week. They taste surprisingly good (even the girls like ‘em!) and have been really effective in increasing our intake of fruits and veggies. Another added benefit: they’re a great way to use up stuff that’s been sitting in the fridge for a while, so you really cut down on food waste.
Anyway, you can toss about anything into a smoothie (once in a while I even toss beans into mine!) I have a couple of staples I always use, like *spinach and bananas. For sweeteners I usually alternate between frozen fruits like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mangoes, pineapples, etc. For green stuff, I’ll add things like kale or chard (which look like they’re from Star Trek) , celery, cabbage, etc.
I’m still at the stage where I’m experimenting with every smoothie I make (btw, in the video I’m using one stalk of chard, not kale). However, I think I’ll eventually stick with a few favorite recipes (once I find out what they are.)
*I’m now averaging over a pound of spinach a week. I think that’s Popeye territory.
