Happy anniversary...

Jun 30, 2011

Happy anniversary to the love of my life.

We've made it through...

family vacations,


A super cute addition,


annual passes,

costume parties,



and summer time hair crisis's,

You know we are getting old when we buy eachother gifts like this...

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And you know we are even older when we are excited that they are on sale. Happy anniversary.
I'm glad that you decided to skip golf today...let's sit in our rocking chairs tonight and play some cribbage like the old people we are?

Love,
Your wifey

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Balut...pronounced "bah-loot"

Jun 29, 2011

WARNING - SKIP THIS POST IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH

Translation -
Balut (egg), a boiled, fertilized egg, a popular food in parts of Asia.

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My dearest friend and college roommate is 100% Filipino and for her birthday her mom threw her a traditional Filipino lunch...balut included.  Going through college with Lolli, I experienced my fair share of traditional Filipino meals and I must admit I love it all.  The sweet sausage, the goat stew, a whole fish cooked to perfection, the soups and the sauces, the beef and the shrimp. If there is one thing that the Filipino culture knows how to do it is feed the masses and feed them well.

Until this party balut was a wise man's tale.  I knew it existed, heard tales of people enjoying the layers of texture that come from eating a baby chicken, and now, after years of exotic Filipino food, I was going to experience the most exotic first hand.

Lolli's dad came from the kitchen carrying the bowl of boiled duck eggs, proud and ready to devour.   Chris chimed in saying he would try one.  I squeamishly shied away from the table and watched as the professional  cracked one open to show is the ropes.  Now most food I can handle, but there is something about a little duck fetus with bone, beak and feathers, that just seems...gross.  Lolli's dad finished his, told us it is easier to just turn out the lights and eat, don't let your mind freak you out, but one look at his egg threw that recommendation out the door.  The visual was already there, the mind was already freaking.

I will spare the gory details...but Lolli sucked hers down like a champ as this experience wasn't a new one for her, and Chris couldn't stomach the actual duck so after tossing the fetus aside he enjoyed the rich flavor of hard boiled yoke.  I tried a bite of the yoke but really couldn't get past what had been inside the shell only moments before.  Glad to have the experience but one that I will most likely sit out on next time.

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Movie Tuesday...

Jun 28, 2011

Found this little gem in our iphoto movies the other day.  P.S.  I nearly died when I was reminded of her chubby chubby cheeks?



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A little slothful...

Jun 24, 2011

I have been feeling really overwhelmed lately.  I stopped creating.  When I come home from work, I just want to sit, read a book, take a bath, or close my eyes.  I have all of these ideas of things that I want to do, places I want to go, crafts I want to start and I just can't motivate myself to do it.  I don't know.  Maybe it is the beginning of summer.  Chris always says that summer is his most spiritually and emotionally slothful three months of the year.  I think this is what I am feeling.  Although schedules haven't changed, I feel busier, when in fact I spend most nights at home, evenings that should be relaxing turn into self pity for my lack of motivation.  

Maybe I am relying too much on Chris, knowing that he is home with Scarlett every day, I expect him to clean, cook and serve me after a long day of work.  We have always had a really open understanding that we would help eachother with daily tasks and that we would serve one another equally. To be honest,  I love doing things for him, cooking dinner, doing the laundry.  I find my place in these things.  It is almost as if Chris being home changes my identity as the mom that I so clearly set before myself the other nine months of the year.  My days have changed.  My mentality has changed.  I have become slothful in my relationship with my husband, my daughter and myself.  Blah. 

I know that time will smooth out the wrinkles that I have allowed to set over the last two weeks.  Yesterday I picked up my camera and captured the joy in my daughters eyes, pulled out my fabric scraps and let my mind wander through the folds.  I felt renewed.  Ready for the rest of the summer that lies ahead, for a renewed  understanding of household chores, redefining the title "mom", and a constant fight against the nagging desire to be slothful.  Bring it on summer...you have three months to do your best.
 
P.S. Chris, this in no way is saying that what you have done for our family in the last two weeks has been overlooked or that I am in any way ungrateful.  You have been beyond helpful.  It is just me dealing with my "indecisive" and "control" issues.  Thank you for all that you do.  Seriously...I could never have dreamed of being blessed with such a wonderful husband to share my life with, and such a wonderful father who loves to spoil the heck out of our little girl.  You are spectacularly awesome.  The End!


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Popsicles...

I rarely drink soda...but when I do I always go for a nice cold bubbly root beer.  I love the taste, the spicy flavor that hits your tongue and mixes perfectly with the cold layer of frost that sits on the top.  Yum.

So this week for popsicles I found a recipe online for a frozen root beer float.  I am not sure that I am ready to introduce Scarlett to the wonderful world of sugar rushes just yet, so for now this is a mama only indulgence. 

No pictures...because to be honest I haven't made them yet but I am sure that they will be delicious. 

Root Beer Popsicles:
1 can of root beer (recommend leaving open overnight in fridge to get rid of a little bit of the carbonation)
Vanilla ice cream
Cup of milk

Combine root beer, milk and several scoops of ice cream in a blender and blend until creamy.  Pour into molds, freeze, enjoy!


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Deep cleaning...worth it?

Jun 23, 2011




Things around the Becher household have been pretty busy as of late.  Summer started in our house in full force.  We spent our first summer day with daddy doing a deep clean of the house.  It felt good to dust the shelves that we haven't touched since we moved in two years ago...yes, we HATE to clean.  I don't mind a good "pick up", but deep cleaning, not my thing.  Wouldn't you know it two days later our floors are sticky, couch is stained with who knows what, trash can is overflowing,  windows have tiny finger prints, crayons lay on the floor, kitchen counters spotted with remnants of lunch unfinished.  Yes, this is our life.  A good deep clean, a little breather and then mess after mess, and we only have one kid.  Oh my.  





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Tuesday update...

Jun 21, 2011

Play time at Grandmas house.  Learning to use the computer early.


 From my mom..."How did this become a place to play?  Gramma is WAY to easy :)"


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Movie Monday...

Jun 20, 2011



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Happy Fathers Day...

Jun 19, 2011

Happy Fathers Day to all fathers out there...but especially to my wonderful daddy and my spectacular husband.  I love you both so much.  Thank you for the love you have shared, the sacrifices you have made and the joy you have brought to the lives around you.

And of course Scarlett says...
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Watercolors...

Jun 16, 2011

While roaming through Michaels...which Scarlett and I do way more than we should...I came across the art section and was drawn into the idea of watercolors.  Scarlett is a really good "play by yourself" kid but I love finding new ways to entertain her.  Also I thought this might be another way to teach her the colors, because as of right now everything is blue.  Strawberries, blue, trees, blue, your shirt, blue, my shirt, blue, the sun, blue...after a while she stops answering blue and starts mumbling to herself a jumble of all the colors together.  At this point I decide she needs a break...we'll try again tomorrow but I am almost positive the forecast is blue.

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Jun 15, 2011

SLOWEST day I have EVER experienced...seriously...EVER!!!


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Pedicures...

I love little painted toes in summer jelly sandals.


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Tuesday update...

Jun 14, 2011

I was a little disappointed today knowing that summer is here and Tuesdays no longer mean time with Grandma, and no midday report of cute flooding my email.  After wallowing in my own personal pity party,  I realized that it does mean play time with Daddy.  I can't wait to see and hear about the adventures these two have together.  Chris HATES to be at home, he gets restless, and so does Scarlett, so I know that there are many park play dates and outdoor adventures in their summertime future. 

Today he took Scarlett to Papa's house (his dad) and was going to do laundry for me...I know BEST HUSBAND EVER...except the machine was broken.  So he settled for hanging with the rest of the family in the front lawn and washing his car while Scarlett ran through the sprinklers.  Perfect way to set the bar for what are sure to become some of Scarlett's favorite summer memories. 

Chris did send me a great video of Scarlett almost adding another bruise or two to her perpetually bruised face by climbing to the top of an upside down rocking chair...that one takes a lot of imagination...but trust me it's a great video.  Sadly, it was sent via text and my phone is the cheapest one you can get so no internet connection equals no video for the blog. Boo.  And my dear sister-in-law Suzy sent me this cutie...I love my family and their desire to inform me of Scarlett's heart wrenching amount of awesome.




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Hiding place...

While looking for my brush the other day, I searched Scarlett's "hiding place" and found this...

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a rattle
a thermometer
a ball
a pen
and my brush

One day I caught Scarlett trying to put her baby doll inside this gourd head first...the baby was too big and Scarlett kept repeating the word "stuck" until I verified to her the baby was to big to go into the "hiding place".
The only reason that we allow this "hiding place" to continue is that it is better than the trash can. 




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Popsicles...

Jun 10, 2011

Sometime last summer the Simple Living magazine put out a recipe for a deconstructed watermelon dessert.  You scrape out the the watermelon, leaving the rind in tact, create a sorbet with the watermelon insides, add mini chocolate chips, reconstruct the sorbet into the rind and serve.  It sounded delicious and fun, so I decided to try this with this weeks popsicles.  (Sorry no picture, my camera ran out of bateries)

What you need:

Watermelon
Mini chocolate chips

Thats it...scrape out the center of a watermelon (1/2 watermelon = 6-8 popsicles), blend, mix in some mini chocolate chips, pour into your mold and freeze. 


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Rice balls...

Jun 8, 2011

A couple of weeks ago Scarlett and I took a field trip to LACMA and grabbed lunch from the food trucks sitting outside the museum.  We finally settled on an Italian food truck and ordered the rice balls.  Not knowing what to expect from the description of rice rolled into a ball and topped with a meat sauce, I found that I was pleasantly surprised by the the mix of flavors and textures.  The rice was flavored, formed around a smaller ball of mozzarella, covered with bread crumbs, browned, baked, cracked open and served with a slightly heavy portion of meat sauce.  Scarlett even dug her fork in a couple times...and if you know Scarlett, you know this really means "yum, this food is actually worth the use of my taste buds". 

After trying this new tasty treat, I decided I was going to find a way to share the love with Chris.  So last week I did my best to replicate the balls with some left over rice I had saved from the night before and whatever else we happened to have in our cupboards.  And it worked...the rice balls were a success and I can't wait to try them with chicken and pesto, or spinach and mushroom, the options are endless for quick and easy rice ball dinners.

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What you need:

Rice
Can of cream of mushroom
Mozzarella (fresh or shredded)
Italian bread crumbs
(I didn't have any ready made Italian bread crumbs so I made my own Italian mix using panko original crumbs, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper)
Oil for browning
Pasta sauce (with or without meat)
(Please forgive the fact that I don't have measurements for these ingredients...I did everything to taste/sight.  And I was using left over rice so I have no idea how much I actually had)

Cook your rice. Put the rice in the fridge for cooling.  It is easier to form the balls if the rice is cold.
 In a large mixing bowl add rice, one can of cream of mushroom and a couple handfuls of mozzarella. (If you are using fresh mozzarella create a ball from the mozzarella and mix only the rice and mushroom together.  You will use the mozzarella ball to form your rice in the next step.)

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Next you will form your balls.  Take a handful of the mixture and start pressing.  The rice will stick to your hands, but if you start rolling it around in your palms you should be able to get a nice round ball.  (If you created mozzarella balls in the previous step, take your mozzarella and form the rice around it in a thick layer till covered)

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Now take your Italian bread crumbs (or make your Italian breadcrumbs by mixing plain bread crumbs, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper).  Roll your rice balls in the crumbs, pressing the crumbs into the ball making sure they are thoroughly covered.

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Preheat oven to 350.  Heat oil in a pan, roll your rice balls in oil till browned on all sides. Throw in a oven safe dish and bake for 20 minutes. 

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While balls are baking, warm your sauce on the stove.  Pull balls out, crack them open down the middle, pour a spoonful of your warmed sauce into the gap and enjoy!



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And (another video from my sister)...

Jun 7, 2011

I remember playing with this same mirror when I was a little girl.  Spending hours in my Granny's bathroom, sitting at the same little table, turning on the bright bulbs, surveying my smile, my freckles, the color of my eyes, the shape of my teeth, the curves of my face.  There was something about sitting in front of those lights that made the magic of the mirror come alive.
I watch Scarlett  laugh with her reflection and see the beauty that is childhood, I see myself reflected in her smile, I see the same magic come alive for her and feel overwhelmingly blessed that she can experience those feelings of pure joy the same way that I got to experience them.  Thank you Granny for continuing to give us joy in seemingly insignificant ways.    









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Tuesday update...

My mom is out of town today so babysitting duties were passed on to my sister.  I love it when my sister babysits, she is so good with Scarlett and I know that Scarlett will always have a fun filled day.  Breanna  keeps her active and outside...which are two of Scarlett's favorite things. 





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