Baking with Cordelia

These pictures are from just before Christmas. I was doing some baking and I let Cordelia lick out the bowl. She really liked it....
....until I took the bowl away.

Then it was straight to the bath.

Pictures

This is the Lego castle that Santa brought for Fred Rion. It took me almost three hours to put together. Fred Rion is really good at putting together Legos, but I think this would have taken more work than he is willing to put in. And it was kind of hard too.
Santa brought Torii a Leapster. It's a cool handheld game system from Leapfrog. He also got two games with it. Fred Rion wants one too. I think he'll be getting one for his birthday. Those will be nice to have on long car trips this summer.

Torii in his ugly Vikings jersey. His team made it to the playoffs and mine didn't so I guess he gets to continue to wear his jersey. He also likes the Steelers (I'm not sure why) and they also made the playoffs. I could live with him being a Steelers fan, but not a Vikings fan.

Barely a year old and a phone in each hand.

Cordelia is such a climber. She really likes going up and down stairs. This was on Christmas day.

"I'll be home for Christmas...."

I'll see everyone soon! I work on Monday 9am-2pm and then on the road to Billings! It's about a 6 hour drive from here and we will stop in Billings at we will be staying at the Clarion Inn & Suites. I'm sure we'll be up very early on Tuesday to get home as soon as we can. Hopefully the weather is ok. I know tommorow we will be driving through snow all day. Idaho is suppose to 3- inches of snow and then I'm not sure about Montana but I think they are getting snow all day Monday also.
We will call tommorow to let everyone know how the drive is going. Talk to you soon!!!

Lots of Hugs,
Kelly

Let it snow

For once we have beat Fargo. We got 12 inches Saturday night. I can't remember what Fargo got, but I know it wasn't in double digits. We have some very impressive drifts in our driveway and backyard. We did not go to Sunday school on Sunday. I'm not sure there was even Sunday school as many churches cancelled services. We stayed indoors the entire day. Many stores didn't even open on Sunday because of the weather. With two nasty storms this winter this is by far the worst winter Fred has experienced here. I am loving it. It's been a really long time. It is reminding me a little of the 96/97 winter. I will never forget that one. I made it to work today. The parking lot was full of deep snow. I made it to my office, although I had to do some shoveling just to get into the building. The roads have been cleared, but it is really cold. I'm not liking that so much. The schools didn't have recess outside today because of the dangerous wind chills. So we are inside staying warm. Now I'm just waiting for it to warm up a little so we can go sledding!

Tex-Mex Beef and Bean Dip

I tried this dip tonight and it is soooo good. No need to say it, but it came from Cooking Light. I did use a whole pound of beef just because I was too lazy to do anything with the extra 1/2 pound. I also used plain chile powder. And since I could only find a big chunk of queso fresco, we crumbled some of the leftover on top of the chicken tortilla soup that we had tonight too. We were stuffed after dinner.
Ingredients
1/2 pound ground sirloin
2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste
1 to 2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled queso fresco
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 ounces bite-size baked tortilla chips (about 60, such as Tostitos Scoops)
Preparation
1. Cook beef in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well; return beef to pan. Add tomato paste and next 4 ingredients (through diced tomatoes), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally.
2. Spoon meat mixture into a serving bowl; top with crumbled cheese and green onions. Serve with tortilla chips.

Brian on a magazine? Wow!

Not quite on the front of a magazine that will be published anyway. He wishes it was true though. I made this for him while he's been a little stressed with the end of the semester and he can't wait to be done. He thought it was neat and had to show a few people at work. I guess it was passed around to everyone and some people had to tease him about it. Ha ha. So, he got his picture on the front of a magazine and he got me some fresh truffles from the local candy shop down the street. Good trade.

Thanksgiving in Michigan

Hi everyone, just thought I'd let you know how my thanksgiving went. I missed mom's cooking and family, but was still able to enjoy myself and get plenty to eat :D Thanksgiving week was great because on tuesday Eric's mom cooked because Eric's brother was in town and wouldn't be for thanksgiving, so we had an early supper. Then for Thanksgiving day we went out to some friends of his family, which was really nice. They had a cute little house north of Grand Rapids. It was realy nice to get away from the city for awhile. Supper was very traditional mixed in with some traditional Polish Sausage and sauerkraut from Eric's grandpa. Very good! For dessert, we had six different pies, which was fabulous :D Everyone enjoyed my apple pie, and they all kept asking me where my apple came from. They were a bit surprised when I told them North Dakota haha!
Anyways, I can't wait to come home for xmas. Eric and I are getting really excited to get out of Michigan for awhile and road trip. I have two more weeks left until the end of this semester, which is nice, but extremely stressful! So much to do!! And I'm still trying to get over this stupid cold! I have thee worse cough, and it has not let up in nearly a week now :(
Oh yeah, I am all moved into my new house. I love it :) I will post pictures once I get a little more settled in and I will send my address soon :)

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from thanksgiving day. They had a really beautiful horse... kinda made me miss seeing horses every day :( Enjoy.



Eric


Kelly is going to be jealous....

Thanksgiving pictures

Cordelia got lots of attention yesterday.
I can't remember what Torii was eating, but he has such a funny face.


Fred drank some milk and then sneezed, spraying it all over the floor. He was nice enough to clean it up.

Cordelia likes to walk around, but she hasn't been brave enough to let go of anyone's hands.

And the turkey. It looked good so mom thought we should take a picture. My first Thanksgiving turkey. Awwwww.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving!! Eats lots of food!! Miss you all :)

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/wRhXpvues3SGNrFO

I don't think this will work but check your email. Brian made a funny "Christmas at the Seeberg's" Check it out in your email! Hilarious!

Enjoy. Happy Turkey day!

P.s I just tried it, all you need to do is click on this site and it will come right up. :-)

Here's a list.

Aviator & Apollo 13
Bedazzled
Clue & Christmas Vacation
Dances with Wolves
Elizabeth(with cate blanchett)
Fierce Creatures & Father of the Bride
Grumpy Old Men & Grumpier Old Men
Hitch
I.Robot
Just Married
Knights Tale
Liar Liar
Meet the Fockers & Maverick
Narnia
Open Range & October Sky
Pink Panther Series w/ Peter Sellers
Quick and the Dead?(i couldn't think of anything else.)
Rio Bravo
Some Like it Hot, Sword in the Stone, Sweet Home Alabama
Tin Cup
Uncle Buck
Victor Victoria
White Christmas
Xmen
Young Frankenstein
Zorro

My faves A-Z

Annie Hall (American Beauty super close second)
Batman (Tim Burton version)
A Christmas Story
Dances with Wolves
Emperor's New Groove
the Fifth Element
Gladiator
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
It's a Wonderful Life
Jurassic Park
Knocked Up
La Confidential
My Fair Lady
National Lampoon's Animal House (ha, I got it in there)
Office Space
Pirates of the Caribbean Curse of the Black Pearl
Quiz Show
Ratatouille
the Seven Year Itch (The Sting a close second)
To Kill a Mockingbird
the Usual Suspects
Victor/Victoria
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
X-Men
Young Frankenstein
Zoolander

Discovered new blog...

So I've discovered a new blog that I really like. Stacy, you might enjoy it. Here's the link if you are interested:

http://www.shebloggedbynight.com/

It's all about MOVIES!!! There's a lot of cool info about movies I've never heard of, but sound really cool. There is also a post by her where she challenges people to compile a list of their favorite movies. The objective is that each movie must be from one letter of the alphabet. Can you do it? I'm working on mine right :) Shouldn't I be doing homework? :P

PIctures

I am finally getting some pictures posted. This picture is from the top of the parking garage at the hospital. The part of the hospital we were in is the building on the left and you can see how close we were to downtown. Both rooms we were in had a view of downtown. I think Rion would have really liked that, especially at night. We could also see the dome from our room.
This is the look I always got from Cordelia in the hospital. She wanted to be held all the time and who could blame her. That elephant next to her is "P-nut". I wanted to get her a gift and the nurses kept calling her little peanut so I thought that was appropriate. Looking at that picture now, she really does look sick. She has put on a couple of pounds and is looking so good. She getting round again. And heavy.

After they put an IV in they had to wrap it up so she wouldn't pull it out. We called it her club. You can see her toe is glowing too. She had that on all the time, it checked her pulse and breathing.

And Rion and his beloved Pikachu. He talks to Pikachu and treats him like a friend. It's pretty funny.

Forgot to post this awhile back.

Victoria and Gingham love this game. Except Victoria is the only one who stands on the ledge. One afternoon I was doing laundry and heard the cats running up and down the stairs. I came out of the bedroom from putting clothes away and stopped in the doorway. Victoria was crouched down on the ledge and swishing her tail around. So I let her proceed to whatever she's after. Sometimes it's gingham and sometimes it's a little ball sitting on the stairs or toy mouse. Anyway, Gingham was on her way up the stairs and when she came to the top....Victoria attacks!! Gingham had no idea she was up there and that poor cat jumped so high! I think she made it to about my waist or higher. Victoria got her good. I was nearly on the floor because I was laughing so hard! Cats can be entertaing when thier in a playful mood. These two are crazy.

Getting ready for Christmas!

Aaaaaah, Thanksgiving is almost here and then the crazy mall rats. I have done some Christmas shopping already and I was so excited to put lights on the house. Brian wasn't too excited to put up the lights above the garage but now he said he would like to put some more on the back of the house! Oh well. I wouldn't mind, because I don't have to take them down. He he. But they would like nice in the back also.

I went to the mall today and walmart. I couldn't wait to leave! Wow, people are crazy! I'm glad that I am getting my Christmas gifts a little earlier.

Well, not much going on here. Hope all is well in everyone else's neck of the woods. :-) Enjoy some pictures of the cats. They wanted to say hi, or at least I think they should say hi. It's been awhile. :-P

Christmas Ideas

Here's some Christmas ideas I found online at Popdeluxe.com. I'm sure everyone is doing something for baby ideas, but here's a few extras if anyone needs any ideas. Send some ideas my way for everyone else also! :-)



Toothpickup $14.95
















Drip Clip-Paperclips


$7.99

These Cookie cutters are so adorable.

$9.99

Also:

Eric and I went for a walk today. Leaves are falling that are bigger than my head! Here are a couple picutres....

Nov. 3rd

Hey! How was everyone's Halloween weekend? I know Stacy has been very busy... Glad you are finally home with your family :) I will call you tomorrow to see how everything is going :) Thought I would give you some time to relax :)

This weekend was pretty eventful. Lots of Halloween fun. I couldn't really think of a costume this year so I just went as a witch :) Eric was a cowboy. On Friday his band had their cd release show so we did that and then went out to a Halloween party. On Saturday their band played at a house, which was really fun. Good times :)

School is going well. Everything is getting pretty busy. Alternative Breaks is keeping me busy too. I found out that Im going to Cape Charles, Va. It looks pretty cool. You should google map it, it's in a neat area. This picture is of all the site leaders this year.


Oh! I almost forgot... but I'm moving out of my apartment :( I'm kind of sad because I like it A LOT, but I got offered to live with some friends, which would cost me half of my current rent soooo I can't really pass it up. Plus, I'll have the internet again, so I can start blogging more again! :) I'm not looking forward to moving all my crap again, but I guess it will be worth it. I really love the house and the people I'm moving in with :) Kind of excited, but I will miss my apartment :)

Well not much else. Hope all is well with everyone!!
P.S. Happy voting tomorrow!

Busy, busy, busy

We had a little party for Cordelia on her birthday. Grandpa and Grandma came over and watched her tear into her cake and open presents. We are having her party with family this Friday. We've been too busy to have it any other time.

I worked this weekend for our annual Haunted Fort event. The weather was so nice, which helped our attendance, and helped us from freezing. On Saturday there was a special Halloween event for younger kids at the park. The boys went through the Custer House and saw it all decorated. Then I took them over to the grainery, which I helped decorate. About half way through Rion said he wanted to go home, (it got kind of dark towards the end), but when we got out he said he wanted to go through again.

On Sunday Rion spent the day with Grandpa and his little brother from the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. They had special things going on with the Timberwolves in town. Rion got to play basketball on the Civic Center floor. They also stayed to watch the game which was against the Nuggets and had a good time. While he was out with Grandpa, Grandma and I took Torii out. We went to McDonalds first. Then to Gateway, which has a nice play area for the kids. Cordelia even enjoyed it. Then we went to Barnes and Noble, where Torii played with the Thomas set. And since Grandma was with he actually let me look at books.

Today after school we had to go to Wal-Mart since I didn't get a chance to this weekend. I had planned to on Sunday, but Cordelia took a long nap after the big outing. While at Wal-Mart, Rion spotted Grandpa. I didn't see him and couldn't understand what Rion was yelling about. So they hung out with Grandpa while I got most of my shopping done.

Rion only has three days of school this week because of teacher's convention. Then next week we have his first teacher parent conference. On Thursday Cordelia has her one year doctor appointment. And on Friday is the party and Norma will also be here. I keep telling myself that someday things will slow down so I can relax. Stock up on your sleep and time to yourself now Kelly!

Road Kill

Forgot one more photo. Victoria loves to push her toys under the peddle car and then try to get them. This photo is when she was getting to comfortable and just about fell asleep. Weird cat.

Merry Christmas?

Snow in October reminds me of when I was trick & treating with my angel costume. I had to wear my wings on the outside of my winter jacket and we had to make a trail through the snow banks to everyone's house to get candy. People around here are complaining of the snow we are suppose to get, which I don't understand because Idaho has or is close to the some of the best ski, snow boarding, and sledding areas around.

Today the snow just keeps coming and it's so pretty. I love it. When Brian and I came home from church I decided to make a nice brunch and then relax for a bit before I start cleaning. With sunday football in the background, a nice brunch, snowing outside; aaaah, the holidays are near. I want to go shopping! :-D

Anyhow, not much else going on here. Brian and I went to see "Get Smart" and it was so funny. We wanted to see the new movie with Leonardo dicaprio but tickets went up and now it's $9.50/ticket! So we went to the cheap theater to see Get Smart and tickets were only $3.00. Plus we could still afford to get popcorn and a pop (I need my popcorn at the movies).

Memorial bridge coming down

Today they took out the first section of Memorial Bridge. Grandpa and Grandma picked up Torii and watched the implosion by the river. Fred Rion was in school, but I showed him video of it when he got home. I watched it from the top of a blockhouse at Fort Lincoln. It was pretty cool. From where I was I saw the flash of the explosives, dust, and then about 10 seconds later a loud boom. We weren't expecting the boom and everyone jumped. It was really loud even that far out of town. Fred said the windows in the house shook. Dad took these pictures. If you want to see more go to www.kfyrtv.com. They have video posted and some good Sky Spies photos of the bridge coming down.

Fun stuff

Hello.
My birthday was good. Eric brought me to the planetarium early in the afternoon. The planetarium is in the public museum, so we (well, he) had to purchase tickets for the museum as well, so we strolled around there for awhile. Really neat museum. I had lots of fun. Afterwards we walked back to my apartment to have a light lunch, then it was off to a go-kart track and bating cages. We also played some skee-ball :) Eric said I'm an easy date because I never want the fancy diners and flowers crap. I want to drive go-karts and go to the arcade :P However, we did go to Old Chicago for super because I LOVE their pizza. Plus they have 110 beers to choose from. Pizza and beer... count me in! :D Later in the night, I wanted to go out for a few drinks with friends, so we went to my favorite bar.
Pretty eventful birthday, which was nice. It also got me away from the stress of school...

Thanks so much for the presents. I haven't had a chance to use the gift card mom and dad sent, but I can't wait to go shopping!!! :) Kelly- thanks so much for the cake :D I picked up a cake pan the other day... can't wait to make it now! Stacy- I can't believe what you got me hahaha! Crazy crazy, but I like it a lot, and I know I'll make good use of it :)

Last night I baked an apple pie for Eric. He loved it :D I'd have to say it was probably one of the best ones I've ever made... We had it with Vanilla ice cream. YUM!

This weekend I have to go on a retreat-type thing for Alternative Breaks. I can't remember if I told everyone, but I became a site leader! I'm kind of nervous, but excited at the same time :) I find out tomorrow which trip I'll be going on. Can't wait!

Hope all is well. Talk to you soon:D

The museum has a carousal from 1928. We got free tickets because it was my birthday :)


We asked the operator to take a picture of us....


Old bike that you can peddle.. don't worry it's grounded :)


This was a really cool exhibt they had going on... It was a complete robbery/murder scenario where you go through and look at the scene, "interview" people. look at the crime scene, the autopsy (if you want... a video of real autopsy footage), and then you try to solve the case. They also had forensics stuff there and other neat crime-solving things. Very cool. Eric and I got our mug shots taken :P

Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

Wow-this is so good. I can't believe I have never thought to combine ranch dressing and BBQ sauce. It is soooo good. Of course I have a few modifications so here goes. First, I couldn't find jalapeno jelly so I left it out and it was still really good with just the dry rub. Second, I had some leftover shredded coleslaw (the prewashed bagged kind) in the fridge and topped my sandwich with that. Yummy! I split a sandwich for the boys and gave each a half. Rion wolfed his down and Torii wanted seconds. I think this recipe will be going into heavy rotation. And yes, Kelly, it's from Cooking Light. :) Oh-also, Fred informed about two minutes before getting the grill ready that we are out of propane. (Which begs the questions, Why didn't he tell me that? and Why hasn't he gotten more? We haven't grilled in awhile). Grrrr. Anyway, I put the tenderloins in the oven following the directions on the package.
Ingredients
1/4 cup hot jalapeño jelly
1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
Cooking spray
1/4 cup light ranch dressing
1/4 cup sweet hickory smoke tomato-based barbecue sauce (such as Bull's-Eye)
8 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls
Preparation
Prepare grill to medium-high heat.
Combine jelly and water; set aside.
Combine paprika and next 6 ingredients (through pepper); rub evenly over pork. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray; cover and grill 15 minutes, turning pork occasionally. Brush pork with jelly mixture. Grill an additional 5 minutes or until thermometer registers 155° (slightly pink).
Place pork on a cutting surface. Lightly cover with foil; let stand 10 minutes. Thinly slice pork. Combine ranch dressing and barbecue sauce. Serve pork and ranch mixture with buns.

Drawing by Fred Rion

Fred Rion drew this picture for me the other day. I've never seen him draw anything like this before. I could never get him to sit down and draw. He is learning so much in school. He saw a flag this weekend and told me to put my hand on my heart and say the allegiance. I asked him if he said the Pledge of Allegiance everyday and he said it for me. I didn't think they said it in school anymore. On Wednesday he has a field trip to the fire station. I'm hoping I can go with him. I hope I can bring Torii too because he would really like it.

We had a nice weekend. We ate at McDonalds twice this weekend. Fred wasn't home so that was my excuse for not cooking. We also had ice cream at Coldstone Creamery and checked out a new playground on Saturday. Other than that we just hung out at home.

I also spent all my birthday gift cards/money. It seems I never can hang on to it for long. I got a jean jacket I wanted with my gift card. Thanks Kelly! Mom and dad gave me money so I bought Curb Your Enthusiasm season one and a cd with that. Thanks mom and dad too! And thank you Laurie- I love the tote. I've already been using it.