Lost

When our upstairs computer suddenly decided never to turn on again, I lost all my beloved blog bookmarks. I am slowly reclaiming them, but I had several that were not in my Google Reader. So, especially if your blog is private, please send me an email or invite so I can get back to reading. And if you leave a comment, I should be able to find your blog through blogger, as long as it is public. Thanks! I'm sorry if I've missed some good posts.

Fan Club

Kate the great is lucky to have a little fan club already. The members are all 3 and under, but they are so cute. Malia (her cousin) and Macey (our friends' daughter) are especially attentive. They always ask me how baby Kate is doing and they always want to see her and hold her. I love to have them over to see baby Kate. If you saw Kate in person, you'd want to join the fan club too.

Macey snuggles Kate on the couch.

Malia with Baby Kate

Malia is such a fun niece. I love to have her around. She talks in the funniest gravelly voice. I wish her parents wouldn't let her smoke so much. Just kidding! She talked to me on the phone the other day and said "I lurve you, Aunt Amy." I love you too, Malia!

Macey has the opposite voice. So cute and little and soft. She loves coming over too. I'm always happy to have Macey Moo visit. I am a member of the Macey and Malia fan club.

Taste of Tuesday -- Warm Pasta Salad

On Sunday I came up with a wonderful creation, thanks to a little help from my Dad. I wanted to do a vegetarian dish, but something hearty and filling. It was a warm day, so I didn't want something hot, and I wanted fresh flavors. This ended up being perfect. I served it with a very flavorful salmon and some melon. Here's the recipe (will feed 4-6 people):

Cook 12 ounces of pasta -- I recommend penne, farfale, or something similar.
Broil 4 cups of diced bread, a nice loaf of paesano, french bread, Italian, sourdough, or whatever you like.

While these two things are going, assemble the following in a large pasta bowl:

2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (preferably straight from the garden. I used Roma and yellow pear.)
3 cups fresh torn spinach (washed and dried)
1 cup fresh mozzarella, diced
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

After the pasta is finished cooking, drain it, but don't rinse it. Pour the hot pasta over the ingredients in your salad. Toss with 1/3 C olive oil, 1/3 C Parmesan cheese, ground pepper, and sea salt. Then toss in the toasted bread chunks. Top with a bit of fresh lemon zest if you like, and serve immediately. The mozzarella melts and becomes gooey without becoming clumpy, the spinach wilts just a bit, and the tomatoes cook ever so slightly. The result is absolutely delicious.
It makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Try it!

Did I Mention

Kyle got a car? After 12 years of being a family we snatched up a good deal on a Chevy Malibu. Not necessarily the best-looking car out there, but a great commuter car that is not likely to get vandalized whilst parked on campus. (Yes, I could have said "while" instead of "whilst", but I think "whilst" is quite underused in this century.) Having two cars is totally great. We can take kids different places at the same time. Best of all, Kyle now drops the kids off at school on his way to work. No 7:30am bus means we all get to sleep in 20 more minutes. Yeah!

I love, love, love these burp cloths. Best ever. Kate spits up on them daily, and they do a great job. They were fun to sew too.

I also made these cute felt cuff bracelets with my friend Britney. They fasten with Velcro and come together very quickly.

Kate looked like this when she was about 3 weeks old.

Then she turned 1 month old, learned to smile, and got bigger. Now she's 6 weeks old. Her first year is going to fly by! She is just the sweetest baby. So easy going and mellow. We are all enjoying her so much.

We made bagel snakes for lunch and they were a big hit. Here's Hayden's. He used cream cheese, carrots, and pretzels. The eyes are mini m&ms. Delish!

Kate and I went to Seattle with Kyle last weekend. The big kids stayed home with my sister and brother-in-law. Kyle had a conference, so Kate and I chilled out, went shopping, etc. And Kate got to sleep in our suitcase. Sweet.

We brought home some crazy teeth from Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe for the kids. Doesn't Kara look great?

Well, I'm glad I got those things off my chest. I've been meaning to tell you about them all week.

Because I should post something

And I truly want to. You know, something hilariously hilarious, or introspective, or smart, or sassy. But I don't have much time for that. In between feeding baby and haranguing other three kids (Kara just put herself in time out because she didn't want to get her jammies on), and doing stupid stuff like attempting to preserve 40 pounds of pears in the middle of the week, I'm just not feeling sassy, smart, hilarious, or introspective. That's okay. I am feeling .6 pounds lighter. A week at a time, a week at a time.

And did I tell you that our upstairs computer just up and died? And it has all my photos, not to mention the mouse and the keyboard.

So sorry, fair readers. Please keep reading. Especially you, C.U., because I'm glad to know you glance here occasionally. And tell that son of yours (N) hello.

Was that cryptic or what?

I leave you with two things.

1. I used to hate TAMN from SSB. But then I read this article about the woman behind TAMN, and I like her a lot more. We're not BFFs, but we can certainly be frenemies.

2. Last night when I was out "running" (if 10:20 miles count as running) I saw this couple out walking their cute little dogs. And I really thought I could have a dog. My kids would be beyond thrilled if we got a dog in a few years. And then today I was at preschool picking Kara up when I overheard a conversation that went something like this:

"You should come, Sydney. It would be so fun. We have the motorhome up there, the kids could play . . . "

"I can't. I have to take my dog to his acupuncture appointment at that time."

That's why I can't have a dog. Because if there's any chance it may need acupuncture, I'm out.

In Retrospect

I should have tried harder to resist sweets and fatty treats while I was pregnant. I ate pretty much whatever I wanted, especially the last couple of months. Now I'm realizing that working off 33 pounds is harder than I thought. I lost 15 fairly quickly, but have been sitting at the same weight for about 2 weeks. Everyone keeps telling me it will come off in time, but I am skeptical. After I had Hayden I lost all but 10 pounds and then started gaining it back. Yikes! So I have started exercising 3 times a week. This week I will bump it up to 4 times if I can squeeze in that many workouts. I don't really feel like I can diet, but I am definitely cutting back on sugar and trying to avoid saturated fat. After Kara I lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks and didn't gain as much to begin with, so things were pretty easy. Now even my fat pants aren't fitting well! Any words of advice or tips on how to lose weight while nursing? I know most people lose weight easily, but my body seems to cling to the fat. But I have a very hard time not feeling my best. If I lose about 10 pounds most of my clothes will fit.

Let me say that I know some of you will be rolling your eyes and saying "give it time" (because that's what Kyle does), but I am getting a little nervous because my weight hasn't budged at all in 10 or so days even though I've been conscious about what I eat. Sigh. This is the life of a woman, huh? My skinny husband just doesn't get it.

Off to do sit-ups . . .