The Holliman Chronicles

Somebody Fell Asleep Reading Again

2011-12-05T21:34:00.001-08:00

We're Gonna Need the Tooth Fairy

2011-11-19T18:09:00.001-08:00

While the parents were having a moment, Harper came in and informed us Nana was going to pull her tooth. We thought she was joking and I sent her away to ask if she was going to use pliers. Off she ran.

And back she came holding HER TOOTH! By gawd, Nana pulled the tooth. And Harper was completely calm, not a tear, no blood.

What a champ. And our first visit from the Tooth Fairy.

Morning work. Such busy bees

2011-11-09T07:53:00.001-08:00

Windham's New Sneakers

2011-11-06T20:58:00.001-08:00

Windham had been sportin' the cheesy-riders for awhile now. My nose can take a lot but it was time for some new shoes.

He saw "Campbell's" shoes and no amount of conversation could persuade him into a different pair. Campbell is an older boy at school and there is a lot of shoe on-and-off happening in 4 short hours. So I needed an easy way for WPH to identify his shoes.

Laramie bought the kids a book of iron-on t-shirt transfers so there was the solution right there.

Windham chose the pink button and red asterisk all on his own.

Voila, problem solved. And the boy has some sweet kicks!

A Murmuration of Swifts

2011-11-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is amazingly beautiful.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

We are lucky here in Portland to have our own Swift event for 3 weeks in September. At dusk, our swifts start to swarm a chimney stack at Chapman Elementary. For 15-20 minutes the swifts make their way into the chimney to sleep for the night. It is a most unusual and fascinating event to witness.

Eagle Creek

2011-09-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

Good old fashioned fun in the summer.

Ewok Turds be DAMNED!

2011-09-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

Please enjoy the review I wrote on Food.com just now:

"Stunning! The recipe I've BEEN using looked like Ewok turds.

In contrast, Mom's Chocolate Cupcakes are EASY and BEAUTIFUL, such a rich chocolate color. I don't even know or care what they taste like. They rose perfectly. I will be proud to serve them at my 5 year old's princess party tomorrow morning. I will not mention to my guests that I THREW THE ENTIRE PREVIOUS BATCH IN THE TRASH, and I will have the sensibility, kindness, and class not to mention the name of the woman who wrote the Ewok turd recipe. Thank you, Mom, for saving my baby's birthday!"

http://www.food.com/recipe/moms-chocolate-cupcakes-105594

It will SHOOT candy!

2011-09-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Windham told us this story during our vacation. We asked him to retell it many times to make more sense of the tale. We are not sure if it is a dream or a fantasy. Either way, it is delightful and hysterical.

Backyard Science

2011-08-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

We attended a super fun birthday party last weekend and one of the highlights was a water rocket. All you need is a bike pump, a needle, a cork and a 2-Liter soda bottle. A bit of drilling and configuring later, you have one awesomely cool rocket. And the thing really goes too.

We made one of our own over the weekend. I will let you figure out who is doing all the squealing, no names mentioned. You can see the bottle flying in the air over the roof.

Painting

2011-08-15T15:18:00.001-07:00

So focused.

For the love of Volcano Cone

2011-08-15T15:16:00.001-07:00

And Portland's food carts in the summertime.

Puzzle time with Poppy

2011-08-09T12:43:00.001-07:00

Hi there, Aubree Holliman just shared an Instagram photo with you:

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"Puzzle time with Poppy"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Garden Booty

2011-08-08T13:13:00.001-07:00

Monkey on the monkey bars

2011-08-06T11:06:00.001-07:00

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"Monkey on the monkey bars"

New Puzzle

2011-07-15T17:42:00.001-07:00

Strawberry Fingers

2011-07-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

Balloon Birdie Buddies

2011-07-13T10:21:00.001-07:00

Thanks, Jim and Maryann. The kids LOVED these. They needed quite a bit of help, but they loved turning the balloons into friends. I heart Martha Stewart. What will she think of next?

Vanity

2011-07-11T19:03:00.001-07:00

Precious Princess discovers the joy of self admiration in her compact.

Goat! Our new neighbor

2011-07-08T17:02:00.001-07:00

Most Precious Licker

2011-07-08T15:19:00.001-07:00

Harper is having a sleepover today, so Windham is scoring, having a gelato date with moms. His licking form has improved dramatically since we moved here, minutes from the gelato shop. He always picks by color, usually yellow unless he goes for grit of the gods, chocolate.

Today, we ate counting down until Pretty Matthew arrives for the weekend!

2011-07-07T22:47:00.001-07:00

"my eyes have TRULY changed, Mommy!"

2011-07-07T13:24:00.001-07:00

Honestly, this was a 100% spontaneous moment, unscripted.

Ducky is packed

2011-07-05T10:27:00.001-07:00

Oh, the cuteness of Windham! We are packing to go bike camping at Ox Bow Park, about 25 miles. Windham and Harper are playing quietly. Windham approached me with his lil yellow duck and said, "Ducky has his pajamas in his backpack of (if) he's too cold. And he got his swim suit to swim in the pool and his clothes. He's ready to go on his bike trip."

The new tiny garden

2011-06-29T16:20:00.001-07:00

This is all they needed, some dirt to dig in. Who needs a house and a big yard when you have a dirt pile?

This is just right of our front door, where the if ratty shrub used to be.

320 miles to go

2011-06-25T10:35:00.001-07:00

Thank Floyd for WIKI Stix!

"I'm making a giant ball!"

"Look at my hair!"

"NO more pictures!"

ROCKstar Harper!

2011-06-24T14:22:00.001-07:00

Ok, I may be crossing the line into whacked super fan parent-ville, but my kid is seriously brave and strong and rocks my world. Check out these pics of her anxious yet brave and wiry strong little self rock climbing for the first time.

My heart is bursting with pride. She is so brave and adventuresome.

For the joy of cousins

2011-06-23T15:21:00.001-07:00

Harper and Windham were SO excited to see their cousin Max again but for ONE exhausting fantastic day of adventures.

Just Some Photos

2011-06-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

Heading Toward Pocatello

2011-06-15T08:49:00.001-07:00

I am unfamiliar to the core with land this flat, just a flat line of land then soooooo much sky and no clouds. Where are the clouds?

Beautiful Twin Falls

2011-06-15T08:36:00.001-07:00

Driving down the strip mall last night toward our Motel 6, we dis not realize the natural grandeur of the Snake River.

Roadtrip Activities

2011-06-15T08:28:00.001-07:00

Three hours into the trip Tuesday, the children had already:
Read Thumbelina and Goldilocks,
Played legos
Spelled word with magnet letters
Glued wheat stalks to paper
Decimated many sticker sheets
Ate their ziplocks full of popcorn
Reenacted The Hungry Butterfly with magnets
Played I Spy
ENORMOUS thank you to Nana for all the exciting activities. We haven't even gone through 1/2 the activities yet.

And the whole time, my little cherubs did not complain.

Twin Falls Motel 6

2011-06-15T08:10:00.001-07:00

1. This motel was full of dogs and litters of puppies for some dog show. Overflowing cuteness in every direction. Then the excitement of motel beds set in. After sitting all day with a couple playbreaks, the children acted like chimps just released from a poaching holding cell. They jumped on the beds, played puppies, squirmed, giggled, climbed on top of each other, kicked up and down like broncos until MIDNIGHT!

This shot is the moment before the madness ensued, when they were pretending to be tired, obedient children.

Let the roadtrip commence!

2011-06-14T08:43:00.001-07:00

The children are fresh, excited, and ready to go. Harper readies her crossed eyes to impress our highway neighbors,

And Windham makes his best tweeny "you can't make me like this forced family outing" face:

This is the brilliant roadtrip activity box from Nana, who will miss her kiddos somethin' awful. Wish us luck y'all.

Windham the smart ass

2011-05-31T16:46:00.001-07:00

Laramie: Windham, how is your gelato?
Windham: It's not gelato, it's ice cream.
Harper: Gelato is ice cream.
Windham: Gelato sounds like Spanish.
Aubree: Very good Windham. It does sound kind of like Spanish but it is Italian. Both languages sound alike. They are both romance languages.
Windham: That's what I said.

Reach the Beach

2011-05-22T15:57:00.001-07:00

Aubree set off just before 6:00 am Saturday. I had cake club, played with the kids and friends. I started packing for our ONE night with Delilah and her twins. With help from Heidi and Lane Brooke, I finally got the kids in the car and the car loaded. Certain I got everything, we set out on the road, 1 mommy, 2 kiddos.

After the children fell asleep, I drove in bumper traffic for what seemed like hours, and I had to PEE. I sat tortured for miles. Trying to imagine a solution, I turned around to gaze lovingly at my two sleeping babes. Their feet were bare. Miles from home and stuck with a full bladder on the highway, I had forgotten shoes and socks. I laughed so hard, I nearly had to pull over.

I finally pulled over behind a roadside fruit stand behind some bushes. I had to leap through a bunch of thorny brambles, of course, so wound up bleeding all over my arms. When finished inspecting my new bloody wounds, I looked up to see that I was squatting, directly facing the on-coming traffic. No stopping now, when you've saved a gallon of pee. But all that mattered at that point was the children stayed asleep.

When I finally arrived at 4:00 pm, I was told to park down that gravelly street, walk back, them get on the shuttle bus to get to the finish line,with my 2 children with their soft bare feet, and the wind was blowing. And it was about 50 degrees. The hildren's teeth began chattering when I opened the windows. Right then I saw Erica, Mandy's special lady friend; I nearly cried. She helped me like some guardian angel.

Windham and Harper, my little troopers, were SO excited to get on a big school bus. The ride was only about 1 mile. Theywere cold and bored an overwhelmed and waited for Mama at the finish line like champion superfans!

Shannon made it through the finish line at 3:30! Nuts. Aubree, Mandy, and Genevieve arrived at 4:59!

Mandy

Mandy, Aubree, Genevieve

Genevieve

Vivienne, Shannon, Mandy, Aubree, Genevieve

And then Harper and Windham played chicken with the ocean and lost,

Jeff, holding Vivienne, Harper on her butt in the waves, Delilah, and Windham (Theo's with Shannon)

and soaking and freezing and teary eyed, we had to ride the bus back to the car. I have never been more proud of them. I explained I would take off their wet clothes in the howling wind, that they would be cold, that the freezing cold would only last a minute while I whipped them into their jammies and wrap 'em up with their blankets. Their teeth chattered, but they did not make a peep! My sweet kiddos are turning into adventuresome warriors. I'm so proud of them! And I'm so proud of my wife for pedaling 104 MILES!!!

Shrooms

2011-05-17T15:41:00.001-07:00

Meet our beautiful mushroommates. They are large, white, odorless, and prolific. In the morning, when I left for work, they are this big:

And this big when I got home.

The first night, we sautéed them in butter, garlic, and some fancy sea salt. Behold the beauty. Their texture is like lightly steamed fresh crab!

The second time, I cooked them into white lasagna. Deeeeelish!

Something about how fast they grow males me feel like we have goonies or little aliens growing in our apartment.

Mini-hike

2011-05-07T16:51:00.001-07:00

We had a change in plan this afternoon and headed down to Oaks Bottom for a bit of a hike.

Please take note of the new trend in hiking wear for the 4 year old set: jet pack, furry bear vest and gold lame pants.

After Bath, Reading Dinosaur Tales

2011-04-10T18:46:00.001-07:00

Windham sings of Stegasaurus

2011-03-30T16:07:00.001-07:00

YouTube Video

Educational Moments

2011-03-30T07:28:00.001-07:00

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"I just used a Wonder Pets song "Be Happy with what You Have" to reinforce the message of The Greedy Dog pop-up book. Whoa."

Rhyming Words

2011-03-29T18:57:00.001-07:00

Harper: What rhymes with piss?

Ready for Spelunking!

2011-03-29T15:01:00.001-07:00

Windham

2011-03-15T18:58:00.001-07:00

Me: Windham, where did you put your sock full of dominos?
Windham, naked, in the bath: In my oven.
Me: Of course.

Harper's spontaneously improvised "how to clean the fishbowl" song

2011-03-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Mimi: Those fishtanks are disgusting, and those fish are gonna die. SOMEone needs to clean those tanks!

Aubree: If by someone, you mean ME, you've got another thing comin'. When's the last time YOU changed the fishtank?

Mimi: I don't DO fish pets.

Harper: I KNOW HOW TO DO IT, MIMI! Want me to teach you?

Mimi: Why YES, Harper!

Little did I know what musical gift was about to be bestowed up on me and now YOU!

Let the great planning begin

2011-02-12T18:34:00.001-08:00

We have a new plan. In lieu of saving away for the dream of homeownership, we are going to spend a year traveling the world.

I once saw an article in a magazine about a family who spent 4-5 months in the US and he rest of the year abroad. I fell in love with the idea. I have always dreamt of making this happen for us.

Our Portland plan has not gone exactly as we had hoped. Still wonderful, but not what we thought. So instead of moving toward a downpayment on a house, we are working toward a downpayment on the adventure of a lifetime.

And so by putting our dream out into the universe, we begin the journey to making it a reality. Please mark us UNAVAILABLE for 2019. We already have plans.

Family Transport

2011-02-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

We were headed to Oaks Bottom for a little Roller Skating when Heidi snapped our photo.

Confabulating about pumpkins, by Windham

2011-02-02T19:46:00.000-08:00

Windham and I were sitting after dinner, chatting. He was telling me how Harper said she wanted pie yesterday, advocating for his sister to get some cake AND pie after the dinner they didn't eat, which is most nights. I said, "We can make a pie together tomorrow night. What kind of pie would you like to make with me?" He said pumpkin, then set off on the following confabulation. Oh the unbearable cuteness of almost 3 (in 1 1/2 months!).

All About Autos

2011-02-01T17:14:00.001-08:00

YouTube Video

This is what happens on Sick Day No. 4

2011-01-21T15:49:00.000-08:00

Mommy makes a mix…

Sports Talk

2011-01-16T12:28:00.001-08:00

Me to Seahawks: You guys stink!
Harper to Me: Can you smell them?

Harper and Windham's Sunday morning muscles

2011-01-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

Kidical Mass Comes to Sellwood

2011-01-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

The January Kidical Mass ride will be in Sellwood this Saturday!

Saturday, January 15th

Meet at the Oaks Pioneer Church (Spokane & Grand) at 1:45pm

Ride starts at 2:00 and will take roughly 2 hours (it's a 3-mile course, with stops for snacks and play)

Here is the route, designed by Ben McLeod

Hope to see you there.

Better Late than Not at All, I Always Say

2010-12-27T11:32:00.000-08:00

Fast Kids

2010-12-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

When we were sitting Toby this summer, the kids took him out for a FAST run. Just found this video from August. Pretty dern cute.

The Quacking Flashlight Duck Pen

2010-12-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

We took Windham to PaperZone for a little craft shopping. He picked out this lovely duck pen for Harper that quacks and shines a light in your face. He has discovered how funny it is to shine it directly into your face. When he does so, he displays a delightful variety of silly faces and sounds, which I naturally had to encourage.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

2010-12-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

Before this day, I did not believe in body snatchers. Yesterday, I broke out into a hysterical, literally hysterical angry sobbing fit all over Aubree, as a result of chronic sleep deprivation. Windham has been waking up 1-3 times nightly since we transitioned to the bunk bed. And he and Harper have begun demanding their "person" during the nighttime, Windham & me, Harper & Aubree. So if Aubree tries to put him back to bed, he goes batsh*t crazy, escalating at 2-4 a.m. into a fullscale howling tantrum for 20-45 minutes, in a apartment with neighbors on 3 sides. This bothered Aubree. That our crazy children could be waking up the neighborhood.

I got the Ferber sleep book out. I read half of it, to the getting toddler to sleep after transitioning to a bed. I made a plan. I shrieked at the unfairness of our toddler commanding us around in the middle of the night. I lost control, thinking about how crazy I will seem in my first week of work, sweaty and red from my bikeride in, with black circles under my eyes and reduced attention span. Aubree agreed that priorities needed to change.

Aubree said, "Now why don't we scrap the Ferber plan. We will put a kaibosh on the 2 year old ordering us around. I will put him to bed and get up in the night with him." That very night, she put them to bed. To our surprise, Windham stayed in bed as told after stories, and Harper pulled out all the stops, shrieking like we were gutting her with a butterknife. After 30 minutes of intermittently shrieking and playing mama and baby, they were both asleep, in their beds. I was shocked.

Windham woke up one time in the night and went back to sleep calmly after Aubree escorted him back to bed. That easy. Why did I let the torture go on so long. I feel like a part of some Greek tragedy or Shakespeare play. All along, we could have put a stop to the madness, if we had just put our feet down and told Windham WE are in charge, not him. Instead, I suffered until I lost it, head to toe.

The body snatchers must have come in between 4 and 6 a.m. I was awakened, NOT by the usual whining, crying, and screaming for me to come "GET ME FOOOOOD!" NOT by little sweaty hands tugging my covers off, whining, "UPPA! UPPA!" then leaping onto my sleeping body, digging elbows and knees into my stomach and breasts. I was awakened by the children IN THEIR ROOM giggling and chattering, playing mama and baby. Of course, instead of laying in bed for as long as possible, I sat bolt upright, afraid. Something is very wrong. This has NEVER happened, in the last 4 years.

I peaked into the room to find them happily and peacefully playing together, not seeking my attention. I am certain they have been stolen or possessed by some happy fairy angels and they are waiting to jump at me, shrieking, "YOU FOOL, YOU BOUGHT IT, YOUR LITTLE DEMON CHILDREN HAVE RETURNED!" I have been monitoring them closely since that morning. I'm still not sure who these new children are or how long the body doubles will stay.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T10:45:00.001-08:00

Wishing everyone a warm fire and a full belly!

Thanks to Nana for the Turkey tshirts.

In Kid News

2010-11-23T18:15:00.000-08:00

Windham is now a hands free pee-er!

While this may seem exciting on first read, our toilet cleaning obligation has just increased ten-fold.

Harper is on a reading plan.

Last night she asked me to read a book we had already read multiple times that day. It isn't one of my favorites but it is about 2 moms getting married. So I felt obliged.

I asked her, "When are you going to learn to read so you can read books to me?
"Soon, honey," she replied.

Love these kids.

11:50 pm & he's just out

2010-11-16T23:57:00.001-08:00

So weary sick boy refused to wake up from a 5 pm nap until 6. When he finally awoke, he was bright eyed and bushy tailed for HOURS. Finally, he zonked out in Aubree's arms at 11:50 pm!

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Poor Sick Boy

2010-11-15T11:52:00.001-08:00

He's been sleeping for 3 1/2 hours after a long rough night.

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Who are these adorable children?

2010-11-13T15:50:00.001-08:00

Everyone is sick, & Harper just woke up Windham. Suddenly & briefly, they cuddled so lovingly & spontaneously, we are awestruck. They remained hugging for about 5 minutes while Windham slowly woke up.

He is no longer allowed to sleep because with any amount of nap, he stays up until 10 or 11 pm. At this time Mommies are plum out of patience, energy, & kindness.

These Hallmark moments refuel our souls for those weak times, late in the night.

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Got Bacteria Ball?

2010-11-09T14:09:00.001-08:00

We here at The HC are always striving for better health. We have some friends who make there own Kefir. They graciously offered to share some bacteria balls with us so we too could make it.

Here is the start of the first batch. The plan is to blend it with fruit for breakfast. The kids have been smoothie-crazed for the last few weeks.

Exciting isn't it. Full report on our digestive health to follow!

Hummin' While Runnin'

2010-11-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

After being sick for the last 3 days, we guiltily took Windham and Harper to OMSI, the phenomenal science center in Portland. We stood in a little earthquake simulation house and a room that had all kinds of air tubes, available for the kids to shoot balls in all directions with long tubes they could attach themselves. Crazy.

Windham got outside and truly let off some cabin fever steam, stopping intermittently to holler and jump in the air, while following the brick path exclusively all the way to the car. The traffic of the highway makes it a little hard to hear that he is humming while running, the whole way. Ridiculous cute.

Laramie to Me

2010-11-02T12:22:00.001-07:00

Ugh, it is a great day for a wig.

Sibling Moment

2010-11-01T14:06:00.001-07:00

Tired kiddos cuddling in front of Dinosaur Train after W had a major "I won't clean up" tantrum.

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Dino Boy

2010-11-01T13:31:00.001-07:00

So tired boy rode Uncle Joey's shoulders for most of the Monster March through Sellwood.

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Handsome Boy Modeling School

2010-10-28T21:19:00.001-07:00

Laramie brought home a box of costume jewelry that belonged to Momo's (Grandma Christine) mom from her trip to CA this week. Windham loves the sparkles of the clip-on earrings. Who wouldn't really.

Windham dancing on Aubree's feet

2010-10-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

Windham chatting with the dinos

2010-10-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

Watching Ernie and Bert Fishing

2010-10-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

Windham laughed and laughed and laughed watching this little video of Ernie and Bert fishing, with very different fishing strategies.

For a hysterical toddler moment, go see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFTjeaDlxDI

Oh For the Love of Oatmeal

2010-10-23T18:16:00.001-07:00

Windham wakes up EVERY morning, asking so nicely for oatmeal. He eats 2-3 bowls, FULL.

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W resting on the sidewalk

2010-10-23T18:11:00.001-07:00

Just so you know, I am NOT tired, & I will not go to bed. I have chosen to enjoy a few quiet moments on the sidewalk.

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Kruger Farm

2010-10-23T18:08:00.001-07:00

Picking pumpkins and hay riding over and over!

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Googly Glasses from Lane Brooky

2010-10-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

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Tempestuous twerp on 2 wheels

2010-10-23T17:44:00.001-07:00

YouTube Video

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My smart children

2010-10-23T17:40:00.001-07:00

Have discovered this amazing trick of sticking their tongues in their handfans. I fear what this might say about their futures.

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Hide and Seek

2010-10-22T15:52:00.001-07:00

I can't imagine where you children are hiding?

How to get new pants

2010-10-20T14:17:00.001-07:00

YouTube Video

Fashionistas

2010-10-05T17:12:00.001-07:00

Homemade Granola Bars

2010-10-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

We have been picking up another child at school these past few weeks. Oh, her name is Harper and she looks just like our delightful little girl. But this alien child is as fragile as an embryo in the hands of Godzilla. We realized part of the problem is that by the end of school at 12:30pm, she is starving.

So in an attempt to be better parents than we were last week, we are steppin' up our snack game. I found this recipe for homemade granola bars and have been wanting to try it out.

Here is the recipe, courtesy of the NYtimes:

Almond-Apricot Granola Bars

1/2 cup almond butter or other nut butter (peanut butter)*

1/2 cup honey

1 cup crispy brown rice cereal (Kashi nuggets cereal)*

1 cup granola (organic thick-cut oats)*

1/2 cup almonds, chopped (pecans)*

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped (dried cranberries)*

1/2 cup pretzels*

1/4 teaspoon salt

Vegetable oil for greasing.

1. Put almond butter and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until they melt together; whisk to combine.

2. Put the crispy cereal, granola, almonds, apricots and salt in a bowl and add the mixture of almond butter and honey; stir well to combine.

3. Grease a 7- or 8-inch-square baking dish with a little oil and line it with plastic wrap. Spread the granola mixture evenly into the dish, pressing down gently, and cover with more plastic wrap; refrigerate until set, at least one hour. Once set, remove by lifting the edges of the plastic wrap out of the dish; peel off the plastic and cut the bars to any size you like.

Yield: about 16 to 20 granola bars.

*My substitutions and additions because that is what we had in the cupboards

The kids loved them.

Music Man

2010-10-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

She Loves It

2010-10-01T19:49:00.001-07:00

Chocolate raspberry gâteau. What's not to love?

- Posted using my fancy phone.

Girls Night Out

2010-10-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

The little man is having a sleepover at Nana & Poppy's house. Soooooo it is Girl's Night Out at Papa Hayden's, one of the most decadent dessert spots in PDX.

What We Do For Love

2010-09-15T18:48:00.001-07:00

I just cut the stem to lower the seat on Harper's new bike. And of course, we weren't about to let a little rain stop us from a test ride.

I think we found the sweet spot. The ride to preschool tomorrow will be the best yet!

lord of the flies

2010-09-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

We get 1/2 hour of quiet time, and mommies begin dreading with scary anticipation of what they may have done now. We enter the room to find, imagine this if you will:

- their beds taken apart, mattresses on the floor, sheets astray covered with marker

- apartment walls covered with marker

- naked bodies covered in marker, down to the genitals front and back

- toy boxes overturned

- new comforters with bright colored duvets covered in marker

- the art bin spread topsy turvy all over the entire garbage dump of their room

- diapers everywhere

- laundry everywhere

This totalled about 2-3 feet high of stuff wall to wall. Meanwhile, despite our screeching, they continued to run around, bounce around the room wall to wall, jumping on and off the bed, in and out of the crib like LORD OF THE FLIES BOYS after killing Piggie.

After closing the door and announcing the consequences (mommies remove all toys and the art bin for 5 days; legos and trains remain at request only with supervision), they futzed around for about 1 1/2 hours. Then I (Laramie) followed a friend's example and began giving them simple imperatives, guessing they were overwhelmed at the mess. Slowly but surely, they began cleaning up. When finally done, we congratulated them and reminded them of the consequences. At this point, Harper bellowed in the most dramatic Shakepearean heart-rending howl,

"But Mommy, I just want to liiiiiiiiiiiiiive!"

Overheard

2010-08-30T20:51:00.001-07:00

Windham, too much acrobatics on the potty.

Harper, Master of the Monkey Bars

2010-08-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

What We Eat (and how we do it)

2010-08-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

Meal planning and shopping is always a struggle around the Holliman house.

Until now. I created a meal planner that has really made the difference for us in organizing, buying and keeping a record of what we eat.

Use the spots to plan your meals for the week. We have been using Fresh from the Farmer's Market with some amazing results: corn soup, tomato salad, onion crostini. Yum! You also have space to note the cookbook and page number for easy reference (and no extra memory required at 6:30pm on a Thursday night)
Create a shopping list based on your weekly meals. We have converted to Michael Pollan's rule of eating, "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Granted, we still eat a fare amount of meat right now (we are working on reducing that and getting meat we know something about from Full of Life Farm). Also, keep the majority of your shopping in the perimeter of the store and stay out of the center aisles, that is where the processed food lives.
Once your shopping is done, put the meal planner on the fridge or somewhere in easy reach. Now you are set for the remainder of the week. And now you have an easy archive of your meals. This makes planning easier as you can look back at what worked and what the kids refused to eat! Of course, if you only offer them the one option, they will eat it eventually when they get hungry enough.
You can also print these double-sided and plan for 2 weeks at a time, if that is how you like to roll. Then keep them in a notebook or all together to make planning easier in the future.

I will begin to post our weekly meals and perhaps some recipes.

If you want to try out the meal planner, click here to download. I would be delighted to know how you like it and how you have tailored it to your own planning/shopping/eating needs.

Who is that Handsome Man?

2010-08-16T21:22:00.001-07:00

I went shopping with Poppy aka Big Joe aka my dad today. Our task from Nana aka Linda aka my mom was to find a polo shirt to go with some new shorts he bought. They are headed on an East Coast Tour and she needed her man to look sharp.

We hit the big and tall man's store and I immediately honed in on a lovely chambray shirt. I made him try it on and he looked dashing.

When I inquired as to which shoes he would be taking, the answer was unacceptable. White New Balance sneakers and Birekenstocks. No good. So we headed to the mall in search of a boat shoe.

This was no easy task as the man has some wide feet. We hit the major department stores only to find a dearth of wides. At the last store, we found some Clarks that were more supportive than the Sperry Topsider but had the same look. Brilliant!

Now don't he look smart?

Fan Love

2010-08-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

Kids have fallen in love with the fan.

Balloons

2010-08-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

Crimes Against Chocolate

2010-08-04T09:29:00.001-07:00

Aubree: Laramie, I know what we should do with the rest of the chocolate you got for your birthday. We can make chocolate covered bananas.
Laramie: We can't do that, that's Chocolate Abuse.

- Posted using my fancy phone.

calisthenics with Ukle Bean

2010-08-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

Ukle Bean missed the children while we were away. We told him we'd make him a BLT after he finished his dreadful 24 hour final. He thought he would spend a nice relaxing evening with his beloved niece and nephew, who had just shorn their hair to look JUST like him. Little did he know...

New Summer 'Dos

2010-08-03T14:27:00.000-07:00

Uncle Ben stopped by today on his way to a haircut. Harper had been asking for short hair for awhile so after much confirmation and assurances she really wanted short hair, we went along with the uncle to the barbershop. Harper hopped up into the chair and the locks started to fall. Seeing the fun that was to be had, Windham starting asking for a haircut too. So up he went.

They both sat patiently in their chairs and let the gals go crazy.

Ta-Da!

That Girl Can Ride

2010-08-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

While out in the country, Harper had the opportunity to ride her cousin Jasper's old bike. We lowered the seat and tilted the handlebars. It was still a bit too big for her yet she was determined to break that stead. She got on and just rode. She fell off and got right back on. We were so proud of her bravery and determination. Uncle Jake captured the moment in this one shot.

You go kid.

At the beach

2010-07-29T11:12:00.001-07:00

Forced Family Outing: Fort Ross

2010-07-28T15:37:00.001-07:00

We loaded the children into the car and headed out to Fort Ross. It is a cool old Russian fort with cannons and little vignettes of how those Ruskies lived back in the early 1800's. Apparently they kicked a bunch of Spanish butt from that fort.

Noodle Educational Videos with Windham

2010-07-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

Nemo, for the 87th time

2010-07-22T20:05:00.001-07:00

Despite having seen Finding Nemo at least 8 dozen times, Windham was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the huge whale that swallows Marlon and Dori. He knew it was coming, yet still held his hands in anticipation.

A Boy and his (ceramic) Chicken

2010-07-20T13:56:00.001-07:00