Candy

Since we went to Rome during lent I was unable to sample their delicous candy fare. So Erik and I waited until today to taste the array of candies we got from Rome.
I've posted pictures of the candy that I got from Rome. Most of the candy had a hazelnut/chocolate combination. The kinder bueno white, kinder bueno ricco di latte, and duplo were filled with hazelnut cream. Mars delight was filled with flakes, tronky had a crunchy outside and was filled with hazelnuts in a chocolate cream. Kinder maxi was filled with white chocolate. Magnum infinity was filled with chocolate and hazelnuts, Cuneesi Rum (small round candy) was filled with dark chocolate and rum. Finally kinder sorpresa was egg shaped and contained a toy inside (see picture).

Erik and I rated the candy as follows. Gina's rating:

1. Magnum infinity
2. Duplo
3. Mars delight
4. Kinder Ricco
5. Kinder white
6. Tronky
7. Cuneesi
8. Kinder surprise
9. Kinder maxi

Erik rated them:

1. Cuneesi
2. Magnum infinity
3. Mars delight
4. Duplo
5. Kinder Ricco
6. Tronky
7. Kinder white
8. Kinder surprise
9. Kinder maxi

So now you know what candy to buy if you ever go to Rome. It seems that hazelnuts to the Italians is like peanut butter to Americans.

We were celebrating by eating the candy since I was accepted to the FIE conference in Milwaukee, WI on Oct. 10-13. Yipee!!! I'm so happy :). We also celebrated by going out to Red Lobster tonight -yum!

Since I can't post without some pictures or videos of Jenna, here's a video of her making soup for Dada.

I also have to post my Quiddler score: 79 points. I did make the word "earing". Which I am surprised I was allowed to make. I thought the word was "earring". Oh well :)

Food Porn: chocolate

Not that I really need anymore (see previous post). But I created two chocolate pies - one for Easter and one for some friends from Toledo. both had a chocolate cookie crust. In the first (the single pie slice) I put cream cheese, heavy cream, vanilla, semi-sweet chocolate and cut up reeces cups. It had a slightly bitter/sour taste but was very rich. In the second pie, I mixed heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla, and semi-sweet chocolate, then added some shaved bittersweet chocolate. The filling on this pie was much better. Light and mousse-like.

All this chocolate is making me hungry...

In other news:

1. I have started reading the short story: "The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P.Lovecraft. It is a classic horror story referenced constantly in the fantasy world so I have to read it!
2. I got 83 on Quiddler today and used all my letters - yea!
3. Monday I find out if I have been accepted to the Frontiers in Education conference (fingers crossed!)
4. I've used an exclamation point in each of these list items!!!!

A tisket a tasket

Happy Easter! A time to celebrate that Jesus has risen by eating candy and chocolate bunnies (what does God think about this??).
Here we celebrate Jesus who has risen from the dead:
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." ~Matthew 28:1-7

This is the key of our faith - Jesus has risen!!

In celebration of Easter, Erik bought me numerous amounts of chocolate which you can see from the picture of my Easter basket. Here is the candy he bought me:

1. Cadbury Eggs
2. Reeses peanut butter eggs
3. Reeses pieces eggs
4. mini Cadbury eggs
5. Butterfinger Eggs
6. Peanut butter M&Ms
7. mini Reeses peanut butter eggs
8. Wonka golden creme egg

I like chocolate & peanut butter and cadbury eggs. (obviously!).
For Easter we went to my parent's house and Jenna searched for her basket. She had candy, a princess backpack, a bubble wand, and a stuffed chicken in her basket. All day today she has been using the princess lipstick. Her stuffed animals have gooey pink stuff all over their mouths.

We also went swimming. Here is a picture of Jenna and I playing in the water. She loves the water!! I do too. At one time I was swimming twice a week and was able to swim a mile (72 laps). Now I can swim about 7 laps before I feel tired. Jenna pretended she was a fish and a motor boat. Mom, Missy, Jenna and I all went swimming and had a fantastic time!

I finally finished the Belgariad. What an awesome book! I was so happy with the way that it ended. I love books with happy endings! It's obvious that he opened the door for the next series but I'm not sure I want to start on that. I've heard mixed reviews and I'm not sure I want to read a rehashing of the Belgariad.

I've reserved Stardust by Neil Gaiman as there is a movie based on that book coming out this summer. It sounds good so I'll see. That might be my next read.

I got 75 points today on Quiddler. They let me play za but not yeo. I don't understand it. I've head of yeomen. Isn't that a word? So shouldn't a yeo be part of a yeoman??

Short?

I received this post card from my brother-in-law. If you can't see it (the picture didn't come out that good), there is a man riding a horse in the snow and the caption reads "The Trouble with a Short Horse", implying that I am short. The problem with said post card is that I am NOT short! I'm not even vertically challenged. So I'm not sure why I received such a post card. It was a nice thought though :) :).

We had a playgroup at our house with 4 little girls today. Jenna, Rachel, Grace, and Hailey. Grace was born 1/13/05 so is only a week older than Jenna. You can see the two of them crammed in the car together. We also bought a wagon for Jenna which was a big hit with all the little ones. Jenna, Grace, and Rachel are crammed in the wagon here. Hailey didn't want to get in, and Jenna looks pretty comfortable on her side anyway.

Easter is almost here and with it is coming some pretty cold weather. Today it is 34 degrees and it is supposed to snow on Saturday - bummer. One good thing is that we have Good Friday off so I won't be teaching. Although I'm not sure what else I'll do. Prayer and fasting - and no wild parties :).

I tried to make the word "lego" today in Quiddler and I wasn't allowed to have it. However, xu is a word. Does that make any sense? Who knows what xu is as opposed to lego? Even Jenna knows what lego is! Got 54 in Quiddler (not a good showing since some people got 113!).

Happy Easter!

Easter Eggs and Go Bucks

The weather has been beautiful and it is a perfect time for Easter Egg hunts! We had an Easter party at our house with Jenna, Nicholas, Kael, Mclaine (not pictured - she's only 6mos old), Avery and Emma. They had a great time searching for eggs filled with hershey kisses all around our house. On Sunday, April Fools Day, we had a neighborhood Egg hunt. The Easter bunny showed up too. She kept saying "Eeter bunny hides eggs". So cute!! I didn't play any practical jokes on Erik. Instead I read this list of the top April Fools Jokes of all time. There are some pretty funny ones. My favorite is the taco liberty bell :).

Currently we are watching the Buckeyes playing Florida for the NCAA basketball championship. They are now losing but I know the Buckeyes, we can come back. I can't believe we played Florida for both football and basketball. I want us to win one of them at least :).

In other news:

1. I am almost finished with the Belgariad. I'm in book 5 of 5 and this series is Awesome! Someday I'll reorder my booklist and it will be high.
2. April 16! That is the day I find out if I am accepted to the Frontiers in Education conference with my paper on the Bioinformatics curriculum I wrote. The conference will be held in Wisconsin. Cheese....yum.
   
3. Less than a week and I'll get to eat candy again. That was a good thing to give up for lent. Tough, but good.
   
4. I'm working hard on my ASP.NET course next session. I've taught the course using ASP but moving to ASP.NET is a big change. Just one small . and a NET :).
5. I got 12 points today on Quiddler but that was partly because there were only 3 vowels!
   

The reason for Easter:
"then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" ~ Acts 4:10, 12

Ecersize

I've been part of this cardio challenge for the past 12 weeks in which we work out for 30 minutes three times a week, put $20 in at the beginning and whoever is still in the challenge at the end splits the money of those who didn't make it. Erik and I are still in it but it has been difficult some weeks to find the time to exercise. In fact, Jenna has "ecersized" with me. Check out this video of the two of us doing situps. She even seems to like exercising with mommy :).

Next Wednesday I'll be hiding Easter Eggs all around the house for Jenna to find. She is excited and keeps saying "Easter bunny hides eggs. Fun time". Erik and I are going to hide baskets for each other and also hide hers. I hope she can find it?

We probably won't be doing iron chef again until after Easter. I'm sad but we will be doing fun things on the weekends (like going to church on Sunday morning!).

I had to upload this picture too. She looks adorable with the pigtails!

Got 54 in Quiddler today but I made all 5 letter words - that is awesome and I only lost one letter at the end - the J.

Pie Day

I meant to post a new blog on pie day but I ended up eating pie all day :). March 14 or 3.14! As you can see, Jenna and Mommy had a good time making a french silk pie. Now most french silk pies contain raw eggs, but we used pasturized egg beaters rather than the raw eggs. The effect was a delicious, smooth chocolate pie!

Currently I'm reading a new series by David Eddings called the Belgariad. Now that I've finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series, my need for fantasy has not been quenched. This series is excellent and much like Wheel of Time (another of my favorites). The good thing about this series is that it is 1/4 as long so I've burned through 3 1/2 books in about a week. I'm sure glad I didn't give up reading for pleasure for lent!

Giving up candy was easy at the beginning. Now the candy is calling me, tempting me. We have tons of candy in the house from Valentine's day and because I give candy to my students. However I have been very good and not touched any candy. It will make my Easter basket all the more delightful! Lent, while being a time of sacrifice is also a time of prayerful consideration. As I think about how I fill my days, I notice that much of my time is not on God's agenda. So I was trying to think of something I could do, with Jenna, to serve God. I thought (if I knew how to sew!) about making blankets for the needy in our community or for cooking meals for the needy and for new moms. I'm still mulling this idea over. Rather than reading "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" all day to Jenna, I should probably be doing something useful with my time. It is also a good thing to model to my little one.

I've started working in the nursery at church too. Every Saturday I work in the 20-24month room. Jenna has moved up to the big girl room where they do crafts and Bible stories. I just play with the kids in my room. It has been a fun experience!

Got 88 today on Quiddler. You know you read too much Dr. Seuss when you try to use Dr. Seuss words in Quiddler!! I tried to use gox. Not a word!

La Dolce Vita!

Rome was fantastic. The food was be best I've ever had. Of course, I love Italian food. We also ate Gelato almost every day and once twice a day. We went to the best gelato place in rome Gelateria della palma - amazing. I've listed my favorite sites in Rome:

1. St. Peter's Basilica
2. Sistine Chapel
3. Borghese Gallery
4. Colosseum
5. Pantheon
6. Catacombs
7. Trevi Fountain
8. Forum
9. Palatine Hill
10. Vatican Museum
11. Appian Way
12. Museum of Rome
13. Piazza Navona
14. Campo de Fiori
15. Spanish steps

These were some of the sites we saw while there. Check out our pictures here. Of course, everyone's favorite picture is the pose that the gladiator put us in. Now that is crazy.
We had an amazing time in Rome and recommend it - although the bus system was pretty confusing. We made up for it by eating plenty of gelato.

Today I had an awful Quiddler score. Apparently OK is not a word?? I use OK all the time! I definitely think it should be a word. So I got a 39 out of a max of 67. That's a pretty bad score!

Bonjourno!

Our first day in Rome was spectacular! Rome has more character than any city I've been to. The narrow streets are lined with historic buildings and apartments where renters display flowers and greenery on their balconies. The people are friendly, even to tourists who are so obvious as us. I never thought I looked much Italian until I came here. Of course my mom could come here and tourists would probably stop and ask her for directions in broken Italian - she could come here and not miss a beat.
The Borghese gallery was magnificent today. Statues, artwork, and paintings fill the mansion; everywhere you rest your eyes is beautiful! My favorite was a marble statue of Apollo chasing Daphne. As she is running she turns into a tree and the artist (Bernini) captured the transformation exactly in his work.
I've already had some genuine Italian lasagne and it really was incredible. We haven't gotten gelato yet :). We did however get terribly lost. The bus system is somewhat difficult to navigate. But taxis have been a godsend! Speaking of God, this is truly the center for Christianity. When you walk down the cobblestone streets it is not uncommon to run across nuns or stores filled with priest robes, goblets, and church accessories (including pope hats!).
Well I must be off to bed for our adventure tomorrow. We will see the Vatican and Sistine chapel and attend mass at St. Peter's Basilica (and hopefully try the gelato!).
Ciao!

Rome...here we come!

Wow - only 2 days until we fly to Rome. It hardly seems possible! Here is our itinerary:

Saturday:

• Arrive in Rome at 8:15am
• Drop off bags at hotel
• Brunch?
• National Museum of Rome (10am – 2pm)
• Snack/second lunch?
• Borghese Gallery (reservation required), 15:00, must be there 30 minutes beforehand
• Dinner
• Night Walk Across Rome (pg 71 Rick Steves book)
• Spanish steps
• Trevi Fountain

Sunday:

• Vatican Museum (free and packed) (8:45- 13:45). May do this on Tuesday if too busy
• Sistine Chapel
• Lunch
• St. Peters Basilica (Mass starts at 9:00, 10:30, 11:30, 12:10, 13:00, 16:00, 17:30) open 7:00-19:00. Cost €6 to climb dome
• Trajans Column (7:15 – 18:00) free and always viewable, 1 hr to tour if touring market as well – Closed Monday
• Capitol Hill Museum (9:00-20:00)– closed Monday
• Dinner

Monday:

• Colosseum (9:00 – 15:15), Guided tour €3.50, 45 min
• Forum (may want to do this first and purchase tickets at Arch of Titus or buy Roma pass) (8:30-18:15) Guided tour €3.50, 1hr
• Palatine Hill (9:00 – 18:15) Guided tour only once daily €4, 90 min
• Pantheon (8:30-19:30), free and 15 minute walk from forum. Rome's best gelato at Gelateria della Palma, two blocks in front of the Pantheon (Via della Maddalena 20).

Tuesday:

• Appian Way
• San Sebastian catacombs
• Dolce Vita stroll

We will miss Jenna terribly but it will be fun to go. I'm so excited - this trip will be a long awaited and much needed vacation. Jenna has driven me nuts all week with her terrible twos so I need this vacation. She's almost as bad as my students :).

In other news:

1. Check out this guy who does beatboxing with a flute - now that is talent! Forget American idol!
2. Finally finished the Dark Tower by Stephen King. Has a better story been written? Not sure. It was marvelous!!
3. Lent started today. I'm giving up candy. Bye Bye M&Ms, Reeces cups, etc. I will miss you. It will be good for me though! I eat too much candy.
   
4. Erik and I made new Everquest characters. I made a Warden wood elf namd Caedwynn and Erik made a Monk wood elf named Caedmon. I thought of naming myself something like Call so we could be Caedmon and Call but I thought that might be slightly cheesy. So I went with a name somewhat like his. I picked out his name this time. His other characters are named Kire and Karazduk. Need I say more...
5. I got 60 points on Quiddler today. A terrible showing since I lost the V which was worth 11 points. I did make the word bloat. That is how I felt after I ate too much biscotti and hot cocoa tonight :).

Toodles!

Happy Valentine's Day

To celebrate Valentine's Day Erik chose strawberries as my iron chef secret ingredient. It was an awesomely sweet time! Of course we ate a lot of sugar for this iron chef. I also lost 10% of my score since I finished in 1 hr and 10 minutes rather than 1 hr. Ouch - that hurt my ratings. Even so, I got a very high rating on the fruit salad I made as well as the other sweets. Here is what I made:

• Mixed berry fruit salad with cinnamon honey dressing
• Layered strawberry, ham and cheese sandwich
• Strawberry cream cheese stuffed french toast with strawberry whipped cream on top
• Strawberry white chocolate bars
• Strawberry lemon trifle

Everything was delicious but very filling. Wow - I was stuffed after that :).
Yum!
Well we've been snowed in these past two days andDevry's classes have been canceled. I was planning on going to Dayton today but the roads were awful. In the morning I went to Jen's house for a kids Valentine's party and got stuck on her road (they didn't plow it). That was fun.
Lately Jenna has been obsessed with playdoh. I've included a cute picture of her playing with Playdoh. She has been playing wth playdoh every day. She also loves to help dada with work. Here is a video of her putting stickers on dada's nose while he is trying to work. It was too funny. I just had to take a video.
Got 84 on Quiddler today. Who knew SOOEY was a word?

Break

I haven't blogged in almost a month! Time has flown quickly with Jenna's birthday party and then Uncle David coming to visit. It has been a fun month. I can't believe my little girl is now 2!! Time has flown. She has grown into a beautiful little girl who moves and talks constantly. She really always talks. Except when she went to the doctor - bug was stoic the entire time. I hope the doctor knows that she is not mute :). Here is a picture of Jenna and the bear. While Uncle David was here we had Iron Chef Beef. It was an awesome competition. It was a heated battle and I pulled out a victory 15.9 to 15.3 - just barely. I made the following:

• Orange, pear and beef salad
• Teryaki beef tartelets
• Basil pesto beef pasta

And David made:

• Beef stir-fry
• Barbecue beef pizza

Everything was delicious and I loved having a competitor. Well now that I'm back to blogging, I"ll try to be more consistent. And we'll have more competitions. Who knows, maybe Erik will compete.
I got 74 onQuiddler today with only one 5 letter word - clout.

Buffalo Chicken...twice

Both Erik and Jenna were sick this past week. Erik had such violent vomiting episodes that he broke blood vessels around his eyes. Jenna had bad diarrhea and was also very sick. One night the both of them curled up by the fireplace and just stared at the fire for an hour. It was so sweet!

So I ended up cleaning up Erik's buffalo chicken sandwich in a not so appetizing manner. I don't think we will be going to Max and Erma's for awhile (the origination of the buffalo chicken sandwich). As you can see, Woody was also sick and wanted to sit by the fireplace as well. Since that night with dada, Jenna has been even more persistent about praying for the fireyplace :).


Prior to the bouts of sickness (of which I thankfully escaped! Praise God!) we had another iron chef. This one was APPLES! Erik brought home gala apples, granny smith, and a few other kinds.
Apples was such a good ingredient because they are so versatile. In fact, this was the most successful iron chef and I received my first 10 rating ever!! Now I know how gymnasts feel when they earn their first 10 score. Perfection - at last!

The items I prepared were:

1. Apple and craisin potato salad
2. Honey pecan crusted chicken with spiced apple rings
3. Apple stuffed crepes with homemade caramel sauce
4. Mini apple tartlets
5. Cinnamon caramel stuffed apple pie

The crepes were INCREDIBLE! Erik and I both rated it a 10 on taste. This was the first recipe of all the iron chefs I have looked up as I did not know the recipe for crepes off the top of my head. I made crepes, filled them with an apple, sugar, cream cheese and cinnamon mixture. Then made a caramel sauce out of butter, sugar and heavy cream. The caramel sauce drizzled over the crepes was a party in my mouth!! The final score totals were: 16.4 from Erik and 16 from me. An honorable mention was the mini apple tartlets. I made a pie crust then cut out little round shapes. Put those in a mini muffin pan, topped them with chopped apples, sugar and cinnamon then covered it with a crunchy pecan brown sugar mixture. Those were good too but nothing beats the crepes!!

Today on Quiddler I got 79 out of 75 points and was able to make the word bruin. I was just playing around and didn't realize that was a real word!!

Iron Chef Tomato!

Thursday Amanda came to visit us and stayed until Friday (yesterday). She agreed to be a judge in our Iron Chef contest. Erik went to the store and brought home: TOMATOS!

I had one hour to create as many dishes as I could. It took me half an hour just to think of a dessert with tomatos but not only did I pull it off, Erik said he would have given me extra points for originality because he thought it was so original! We had a fun time and Amanda liked it too!! I made:

1. Tomato and carrot salad with balsamic vinegrette dressing
2. Tomato, mozarella, parmesan, pepperoni and basil mini wraps
3. Beef quesadillas with tomato and tomatillo salsa
4. Crab, cream cheese and dill stuffed tomatos
5. Tomato, grape, craisin, and honey sweet rice

Erik and Amanda rated the Tomato wraps very high. They were really good and Amanda gave taste a full 10 points (the highest!). Prior to tasting, I thought the crab, cream cheese and dill stuffed tomatos would be my piece de resistance however the dill flavor was not strong enough. They were very good though. Fresh dill would have made all the difference. The tomato sweet rice was a big success as well. I put grape tomatos, grapes, craisins, and walnuts in rice. Then I mixed cream cheese and honey to make a sweet dressing. It was actually a good, sweet dessert with tomatos. We all noted that the sweet dressing brought out a sweetness in the tomatos that you don't normally taste. Erik's rating: 15.4, Gina's rating: 16.2, Amanda's rating: 15.8

Amanda and Jenna made bread. I've included a picture. Jenna likes cooking with Amanda as much as Mommy! The bread was excellent and we had a fun - food filled time :).

Today I got 65 on Quiddler and the max is 63 so not that great. I didn't know SUQ was a word!

Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas in New York with Erik's parents. Oddly enough, Jenna's favorite part about Christmas at their house was the many trains and train sets Erik's dad has. Here is a video of her after she put Woody in a train around the Christmas tree. ChooChoo Woody!
We went to church Christmas Eve and when we got home took some pictures of our family as well as sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and had birthday cake. Jenna tried to blow out the candles but only managed to say "candles hot".
I've uploaded pics of us as well as the nicely decorated table. We had a wonderful time. Jenna read many books and played with several dolls while there. She also discovered the color "silver" and has used it properly :).

Even though Jenna has had a difficult time smiling in these pictures. She had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

We played the Quiddler card game and I lost miserably (Erik won!). However I won at Trivial pursuit (beating Erik) and Union Pacific which was wonderful! Today I got a miserable 67 on Quiddler as I lost the Q (15 points!!).

Iron Chef Cooper: Bay Scallops!

Today we had another edition of Iron Chef Cooper. This time it was a battle of Bay Scallops! Erik brought home 3lbs of bay scallops (without my knowledge!) and I had 1 hour to create a variety of dishes (no recipes mind you!) with the scallops. This dish was a surprise to me. He has surprised me twice with different ingredients.

Here are the dishes I made:

1. Blackened scallop and orange salad
2. Spicy pimento and scallop spread
3. White wine and garlic scallop topped pasta
4. Parmesan encrusted basil scallop bake
5. Ricotta, orange, and scallop mini pie

So yes, I did create a dessert with scallops :). Erik and I both rated low on taste the white wine and garlic scallop topped pasta while we both rated very high the spicy pimento and scallop spread as well as the parmesan encrusted basil scallop bake. We also enjoyed the ricotta, orange, and scallop mini pie. We rated that high on originality. I boiled the scallops and put them in the food processor then mixed them with the ricotta with some sugar and orange peel then made a pie crust and put that in the pie crust. Erik was surprised I made a dessert with scallops but it was actually pretty good.
Erik's ratings came to 14.4 and mine were 16. The total is 30.4 which was higher than the prosciutto challenge (29.25). Of course, that was my first time!
I couldn't have a blog post without including brag pictures about Jenna. Here she is with her favorite toy, Woody, and her gushy ball. She has orange and purple gushy balls and we got her another one for Christmas. She loves these toys for some reason.

We also captured a video here of her saying "Dada big strong man". So cute!

Got 77 on Quiddler today and the max was 75. I tried to make only words about food in lieu of my iron chef today but when I got a "qu" that didn't work so well.

Mommy's Footsteps

Jenna put mommy's shoes on today and was walking around with them saying Mama shoes, Jenna pretty. See it here
I also have a picture too!

These boots were made for walking, and that's just what they'll do - one of these days these boots are going to walk all over you!

In other news:

1. Erik and I got this new game called Caylus. We really like it!! It's a board game that takes 3 hours :) but it has a lot of cool strategy in it. Basically you are trying to build in a castle and gain royal favors and build buildings to earn the most points. There's a lot more to it but I don't have a chance to write it.
2. I have a 99.17% in my VB.NET class! yea :) I hope I do well on the final exam.
3. Jenna has been saying "Happy Jeezy" (Happy Birthday Jesus) then Happy Mizzy, then Happy Dada but not Happy Mama. Apparently my birthday is not important.
4. I miss Erik so much. He's been in Boston all week and he comes back tonight - I can't wait!!!
5. I can't wait for Christmas! It is my favorite time of year.
6. 68 points on Quiddler today :)

Christmas party

On Sunday we had a Christmas party with friends. It was a potluck and we had a gift exchange. I made ham and some yummy desserts and cookies and everyone else brought delicious side dishes. It was a wonderful time! We got a $10 gift certificate to Kroger and the movie Cars. So the gift exchange was nice for us too!! Here is a picture. Jenna was so wound up with all the kids there that she couldn't sit still! She was bouncing off the walls - she slept good that night :).

The next morning Erik left for Boston at 4:30am. Jenna and I miss him!! Yesterday Jenna played in the sink for 45 minutes with Mama duck, Dada duck, baby duck and Woody (picture included). For some reason, Woody must be present at every meal and lately baby duck has needed to be there as well. I guess our family isn't good enough.


Today she got her flu shot and didn't cry at all! I was about to cry but she didn't even act like anything was wrong after they shoved the needle in her leg. So I gave her a sucker :).

I've noticed that she makes me laugh out loud with her goofy antics and her innocence. Here are some things I laughed about yesterday:

• After playing in the water for 45 mintues Jenna's fingers were wrinkly. This must have been the first time she's noticed this happens in water because she kept wanting me to kiss them and dry them off.
• Jenna put hair bows on her hot wheels cars
• Every night since Erik put new doors on the fireplace (a few weeks ago) when I ask Jenna what she wants to pray for at night she says "fireyplace new doors". So we pray for the fireplace. Last night I said, "do you want to pray for Dada"? After awhile she thought about it and said "mama pray dada". Then a few seconds later "pray trash can". So praying for Dada was only slightly more important than praying for the trash can.

Today I only got 80 points on Quiddler. I was left with letters even though I made two 5 point words :(.

Build-a-Bunny

On Tuesday, Jen, Rachel, Jenna and I went to Build-a-Bear to build bears for Jenna and Rachel. When we walked past the rows of unstuffed animals I asked Jenna which bear she wanted. She looked at a fluffy white bunny and said "bunny!". I said, do you want a bear or a bunny. She said bunny! She loved it! She picked out a heart for her bunny and kissed it. Then we picked out an outfit for her bunny. Jen noted that our stuffed animals didn't have underwear on - we didn't want a Britney Spears situation. So we put underwear on our animals. Here's a picture!

Lately Jenna has loved it when Mommy sings to her. In fact, she will say "diffent song, tinkle tar". Translated from toddler speak is "please sing a different song mommy, I would like to hear Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". So then I sing that song for her. Another of her favorites is "yi yo yi yo" Which is "Old McDonald had a farm....eieio!".

I've decided I'd like to finish a few books before the end of the year (that's just a few weeks away!). I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, but here is my list:

1. Dark Tower book 7 by Stephen King - this series is AMAZING! I'm on Song of Susannah now which is book 6
2. The King in the Window - a book recommended by David. Sounds like something I'll like!
3. Squire's Tale series (I'm on book 3). A funny young adult series about King Arthur written by a minister.

I'll come up with a list for next year too. I have lofty goals of books I want to read :)

So far I've made the following Christmas cookies/candy:

1. M&M cookies
2. Mint crinkles
3. Cutouts
4. peanut butter cups
5. german chocolate fudge
6. peanut butter fudge
7. Snow cap brownies

I still want to make:

1. Nut bars
2. cranberry pistachio bark
3. pumpkin roll
4. chocolate truffle tart with raspberry whip cream

I love making fun desserts for Christmastime - Erik hates decorating Christmas cookies but he always has to (I'm a mean wife!!).

Today I got 78 on Quiddler. Yesterday one of the words was KEF. I thought that was only a word in the Dark Tower series - I guess it is a real word. I'll set my watch and warrant on it!

Iron Chef Cooper

Battle Iron Chef Cooper begins! Today Erik went to the store and bought a secret ingredient so we could duplicate iron chef (my favorite show on the food channel). I didn't compete against anyone but it was still fun! Erik brought home the secret ingredient: prosciutto (I did not guess that at all!!) and I had 1 hour to make a few different dishes with it.
I made:

1. Prosciutto apple salad in balsamic vinagrette dressing
2. Green beans amadine with prosciutto
3. Prosciutto, tomato, basil, and parmesan pasta
4. Cranberry orange glazed prosciutto

Then Erik and I tasted the dishes and rated them separately in a spreadsheet I created. The ratings were: taste (10pts), plating (5pts), and originality(5pts). Erik's scores were 7, 3.75, and 3.5 respectively and mine were 7.75, 3.75, and 3.5 respectively. He loved the salad but didn't like the cranberry orange glazed prosciutto (said it was too sweet).

This was such a success and Erik is going to do this again for me. I'm so excited! I've included a picture of me with the 4 dishes.

I also must include an obligatory cute video of Jenna. Click here to see Jenna playing with her car. In the middle of the video she even says "Dada take picture of Jenna". Then she gets in the car and says "beep beep". How adorable!!

Got 79 on quiddler today and made the word "laze". I didn't think "laze" was a word! Oh well :)

Starring - Daddy's Hat!

For some reason Daddy's hat entertained Jenna for a long time yesterday. See video here. She put it on her favorite doll - Woody as well as her own head. Then when the hat was boring, she chased Scruffles. We didn't get a really good chase scene (believe me, there are some where Scruffles runs in terror), but here is a funny one. You can see Scruffles appealing to us for help :).

I'm so excited that Christmas is coming. Next week will be devoted to Christmas cookies and candy. This year Jenna will be able to help but Erik still won't be able to get out of decorating Christmas cookies! No matter how hard he tries - he will be forced.

We watched the Da Vinci Code last night. It was actually good and followed the book remarkably well. It is a good fiction story :).

Lately Jenna has had 10-15 minute meltdowns in which she is completely inconsolable. These will be set off by something completely ordinary. For example, she spilled her bowl of corn flakes (dry - no milk) and started screaming. Dada and I tried to hold her and comfort her but to no avail. She was so upset about this. She wasn't mad at us or throwing a tantrum, she just had a meltdown. The meltdowns I prefer are the triple chocolate kind from Applebees (that was Missy's joke - I thought it was hilarious!).

Today in Quiddler I was left with J, B, D, Y, C. What words can I make with that?? I made by and lost the rest. I couldn't think of any others. So it was a pitiful Quiddler day!

Happy Giving!

This Thanksgiving holiday was absolutely wonderful - maybe the best ever! Why...because Erik and I appreciated our time together and treated it like gold or chocolate (whichever is more valuable to you - I'm with the chocolate). We left Jenna with my parents from Thursday through Sunday. We did miss her and on Sunday I couldn't wait to see her, but those few days to ourselves were precious! We went to J.Alexanders and ate a fancy dinner, went to see Casino Royale (great movie!), spent 2 hours in half price books, went out for coffee at Cup O Joe, played EverQuest, and just sat around and relaxed. It was wonderful!!!

Of course, my family showered Jenna with attention and gifts. Some of the gifts she received were a Jenna-size table and chairs, a big toy car she can ride in, a sit and spin, lots of clothes and crayons, a vacuum cleaner, and even a gift card from Max and Ermas! She loves all her new toys and gifts. Here is a picture of her sitting on one of her chairs. She kept moving from chair to chair. She loves them!

Erik and I received great gifts too. My mom got me a bird feeder and Erik hung it up outside our deck. It should drive Scruffles crazy!!

I used all my letters today in Quiddler and got a score of 71 AND got to make the word "laugh". Such a happy day to end a happy weekend!!

Friends?

Still friends despite the Ohio State - Michigan rivalry. Can you believe it? Nicole and I even went to Kroger together (decked out in our sweatshirts) and no one looked at us funny. Now we just have to get Mclaine (her new baby girl) to wear a Buckeye cheerleader outfit like Jenna... *smile*

Yesterday I went to an OSU basketball game with my Dad. We had a good time and the Buckeyes won 82-60. So it was a good Buckeye weekend overall! Then Mom and Dad and Jenna and I went to Scramblers today for breakfast. I ate so much that I only ate a banana for lunch. Jenna however still ate lunch. How can she fit so much food into that little body?

We put up the tree today and Jenna and Scruffles were very "hepful". She loved the beads we string on the tree as well as the snowflake ornaments. We'll see how long the tree lasts. It has survived Scruffles before but not a toddler. She can do some damage!

(warning - I am going to rant) I received an email from a student today with the following contents:

MS COOPER, CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME! I can not get to my worksheets. I need help. I have to catch up. I can not fail this class. I so loss. I can not get to my email or anything.

It was from an email address something like "chichi9787@yahoo.com". Now first of all: who are you? what specific problems do you have? and what course are you taking? I receive 2-3 emails like this every semester. Do people have any knowledge of business communications?? I prefer a subject such as: Hello Ms. Cooper or Hello Gina even Hello goddess divine
then tell me what your specific problem is and especially your name for goodness sakes! What is the world coming to :).

Today in Quiddler I got -28 points since I lost half my cards. There just weren't enough vowels!!

We won!

We won the Michigan game and what a game that was! It was exciting from start to finish. We all went to Nicole's house to watch the game. They are big Michigan fans and were wearing blue and yellow. Of course we were all sporting our scarlet and gray. Nicole and I took a picture together of us - I'll post it later :). For now, on to more important things - our kitchen! I've uploaded a picture of our newly painted, stenciled kitchen complete with our new linoleum. In case you can't see (and actually do care) the design is a series of squares within squares with red, gold and green colors. We are going with a harvest fall type color scheme so this floor fits nicely. Erik painted the stencils on the walls - it looks so nice!!

Today I tried to get a video of Jenna telling us that she prays to God and Jesus and that Jesus is in her heart. However in the video the cat made a noise which distracted her. Distractions are terrible things with toddlers. Her attention span is surprisingly short. Check it out here.

Tomorrow night I'm going to a basketball game with my dad. It should be a fun father-daughter outing. We are going to see OSU play the San Francisco Dons. I hope we win :). Then it will be Thanksgiving! Yum!! Lots of food and fun and family! We are exchanging gifts at Thanksgiving with my side of the family. We have a secret santa gift exchange but since we're all so nosy it's not very secret. This Thanksgiving will be especially fun since we will be leaving Jenna with my parents and we will have the weekend to ourselves!!! I have so many plans of fun activities to do but Erik wants to paint Jenna's room and workout. AAAH! This is supposed to be a vacation - can someone please explain to him about fun??

Today I got 83 points on Quiddler and had to use QAT - what a great word!

Go Bucks - Beat Michigan

We are eagerly anticipating the game tomorrow. Jenna will be decked out in her OSU cheerleader out fit and and Erik and I will be donning our scarlet and gray as well. Rumors of cops being flown in and riots surround the festivities. My students were wearing Scarlet and Gray today also. I'm so excited for tomorrow! We're skipping church to watch the game - heathens!!

I tried to take a few videos of Jenna today but as soon as I get the camera out she wouldn't perform. Before we eat we tell her that we are going to pray. She says "pray God Jezzy". Then we say "where is Jesus?" and she says "book, heart". She knows Jesus is in the book (her Bible) and her heart - how cute!!

Today we were reading a book and I asked her to turn the pages. She waited and said "pease". She was waiting for me to say please!!! I usually want her to say please so she was mimicing me. I guess I need to have manners too.

I saw The Prestige Tuesday night and highly recommend it. The acting was excellent and the storyline was great. There was also a twist at the end (several actually) that I didn't pick up on. I'm glad I went to see that movie - it was fun.

71 on Quiddler today: feu is a word?? wonder what it means...

My little chef

Yesterday Jenna and I headed up to Cleveland to see Missy for her birthday. Of course today, Jenna has been saying "Happy Missy" all day - how cute. Amanda and my mom were also there and we went to Famous Dave's to eat. The five of us ordered the All American Sampler which feeds 4-5 (actually about 7!!). There were ribs, an entire chicken, pulled pork, corn on the cob, corn bread, baked beans, cole slaw and french fries. We took home two boxes of left overs. Jenna even loved the pulled pork. After lunch, we headed to Toys R Us where my mom and sisters spent tons of money on Jenna! My mom bought her this apron and chef's hat. She loves to cook with mama and always says she is being "hepful" (hepful to Jenna = not helpful to Mama but very cute). She helped me bake pumpkin bread today and wore her new apron. She loved it!!

In very exciting news for me - my paper was accepted to the CISSE 2006 conference in Vermont. Yea!! I do not have to attend but will present my paper via a webex. I'm so excited that it was accepted. The final manuscript is due the 24th so I had better get on the ball.

Today I made cheese and corn souffle for dinner. It only has 217 calories and is low fat as well. I thought it would be a great light dinner for Sunday night. Well Erik told me I should never make it again and couldn't even eat the amount I scooped on his plate. This was probably the worst cooking failure since potato pancakes several years ago. I didn't think it was THAT bad but then again - I like broccoli :).

Today I got 93 on Quiddler but it wouldn't let me play the word ORZO. Orzo is a word! It is a pasta that looks like rice. I make it all the time!!

Haircut

We gave Jenna her first haircut! Here is a picture of her with her bangs shorter. She didn't complain while we were cutting her hair. It is crazy curly!! At least now it won't be in her eyes and she'll be able to see.

My new semester is going well, and I've learned a good deal about VB.NET from my online class. I'm really enjoying this course. The courses I'm teaching are also going well and I've been researching podcasting them. I was hoping to start this semester but it looks like it will have to be later.

Today we took Jenna to vote. She didn't actually vote but had fun at the polls. I've had the election results up and refreshing on my computer. We'll see how things turn out.

Scruff had his teeth cleaned on Monday. He was pretty dazed when we picked him up and they even had to extract one of his teeth. I guess he needs to do a better job of brushing *smile*.

In a much smaller election we will be voting on trustees for our Homeowners Association on Thursday. I am not running. In fact, I quit my two year term 1 year early. I'm so glad too - there are too many angry neighbors (generally about stupid things like fences). I'm hoping there are some normal people in my neighborhood but I'm not sure. If we ever move it will be out in the country without a homeowners association!

I got 72 today in Quiddler and they wouldn't let me use "mux". That is a word!!!

Michigan awaits...

Jenna and Lidoli (Nicholas) love to read. I've uploaded a picture of me reading a story to Jenna, Nicholas and Scruff. They all seem very interested in it :). Jenna has been less interested in reading lately and more interested in playing and pushing things around the house (the push toy, her shopping cart, mommy and cat). See the video here.

The Buckeyes are on their way to becoming National Champions again! Yea! Go Bucks!! Jenna gets in the spirit too. Every Saturday she wears her Buckeye cheerleader outfit and so does Rachel. Jenna and Rachel are in the same class at church. I took a picture of the two last year in their cheerleader outfits as well. I can't wait for the Michigan game. It should be exciting and somewhat scary. I plan on making buckeyes and I don't think we'll go to church that Saturday night. Church may in fact, be cancelled *smile*.

My sister's birthday is the 11th and we plan on going to visit her and have lunch. We will wine and dine her. Well maybe not wine, and I guess not dine either as dining implies some sort of fancy restaurant. She isn't 30 yet....










In other news:

1. Tonight is Trick or Treat!!! I'll be sure to upload pictures of Jenna with her bucket of goodies. It's raining :(. But nothing is going to stop us!!
2. We are so excited since we sold our other house! Yea!! It had been rented the past 4 years and it is nice to have it sold now. Now we only have 1 mortgage :).
3. I am a glutton for punishment and am taking VB.NET through Keller. Yes - I know I haven't finished my PhD yet....
4. Guys gaming night is Friday. Erik is going to have his friends over to shoot each other in a virtual environment. I'll be teaching or they would get shot by me!
5. Today I got 83 points on Quiddler. There were about 30 N's though. NU apparently counts as a word :).

select * from class where mood = fun

My students - I love them! In BIS240 this session, one group decided to make t-shirts with SQL sayings on them.

Here is a picture of me (and my SQL shirt) with them. Don't we look great in our geeky shirts? We had a fun class!!

This is finals week for me and I'm swamped with work. Not only grading finals from this week (and projects and assignments) but getting ready for next semester which starts on Monday! And my online course!

Halloween is Tuesday and we are looking forward to taking bug trick or treating. We took her to Boo at the Zoo last Friday and had a good time. We went with the Jen and Jeff Wahl who have a daughter close to bug's age named Rachel. Rachel is dressed as a duck and Jenna is dressed as snow white. Here are some pictures:

Boo at the Zoo was fun even though the candy was lame (tootsie rolls, gum, etc). Hopefully she'll get better candy on Tuesday when we take her out trick or treating. It should be a fun time :).

Today was a profitable quiddler day. 62 points and I got to make the word "sty". Who doesn't like the word sty?

Pizzie

Yesterday for dinner we ate pizza from Donatos. Erik surprised me by bringing home the new Donatos Ciabatta pizza. It was good. The funnier thing was Jenna's response. She loves pizzie. Watch the video here. Pizzie was num num.

Erik bought another computer. This brings the number of computers in our house up to 8. Seems like a reasonable number of computers! Now Jenna can watch slideshow pictures of herself on any computer.

On Saturday the three of us went to Kael's birthday party. He turned three and although the birthday party was during the OSU game, Erik tagged along. The party was at a jungle gym so the kids were running all around and bouncing on trampolines. I have uploaded some pictures of Jenna enjoying the trampoline and some of the other jungle gym toys.

Saturday morning Erik went to Chainsaws and Chili at the church. He did manly things like chop down trees while eating chili. Sounds scary to me. He was chopping down trees for a retreat center they plan on using in the future on currently undeveloped land. Jenna and I stayed home and baked bread. Much less scary. We have been passing around Amish bread at work and it is delicious when you put tons of chocolate chips in :).

The buckeyes are doing well this year. We are excited that they might win the National Championship. I'll have to get more pictures of Jenna in her OSU gear. She knows the word "buckeyes"! A true Ohioan :).

Today I got a pitiful score on Quiddler: 49 but who knew that feu was a word??

Gotcha and Tuck

Jenna has created games that she plays with both Erik and me. With Erik she plays "tuck". It's a game she made up where she leans over the couch, he tucks her head under then she somersaults off of the couch. With me, she has a game she coined "gotcha". She stands on a chair or the couch and jumps into my arms. The first time she did this I said "I gotcha!". So now, she says "gotcha" when she wants to play that game. And she'll play both for a LONG time!

Today Jenna finally let me put pigtails in her hair. She took them out after about half an hour but I quickly took a picture just to prove that she did let me put pigtails in her hair. This is a good shot of those dimples too!

I finally finished Wizard and Glass - the 4th book in SK's Dark Tower Series. I can't wait to read the next one. Now I know why he is such a popular author! What great character development and imagery - he is a master storyteller!

At Devry some of the faculty and staff have been passing around Amish bread starters. I made my first batch of Amish friendship bread and put chocolate chips in it. Yum!! However since it is cinnamon sugar chocolate chip, I dont' think it counts as bread. It probably counts more as dessert. So next time I will add raisins. That is somewhat healthy.

My friend Joy asked if I had compiled a list of favorite cheeses. I realized I had not. So here is my preliminary list of favorite cheeses:

1. Baby swiss
2. Parmesan and romano
3. Stilton with candied lemon peel
4. Smoked gouda
5. Guyere (I like the name too!)

This is a very preliminary list. Joy has prompted me to try different cheeses and rate them. Maybe after I do this, I can come up with a more complete list.

I also only got 70 points on Quiddler and made me realize I don't like C's. Not many words use them!