Move over Jessica!

Watchout Jessica there is a new actress on the block that is ready for a leading super hero role! Currently we are working on the custome choices.

A dog.

With the markers that I mentioned a few posts ago Isabella decided to draw a dog on our window. I think it is great, her artistic skills have really been coming out lately.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Eat Fresh!

We were pleasently surprised when we went to Subway last night. They have really tried to change for the changing times. Natural cheeses, whole grain breads... Amazing. The kids loved the bags that were given for the kids meals. So if you haven't been there in a while. I would say try it.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Egg-celent

One thing that our daughters love are eggs! With cheese of course... But it is not an uncommon weekend breakfast that our girls can wolf-down five eggs! We normally reach for organic cage free eggs, but that is just a preference.

Did you know? According to www.incredibleegg.org : Yolk color depends on the plant pigments in the hens’ feed. Natural yellow-orange substances, such as marigold petals, may be added to light-colored feed to enhance color. Artificial colors are not permitted. The color of the yolk does not indicate egg quality, freshness, or nutritional value.

Shell color is determined by the breed of the hen that lays the egg. White eggs are most common. Brown eggs are more expensive because the hens that lay them are bigger and require more food.

The fresher the egg, the cloudier the egg white. As the egg ages, the white becomes clearer and thinner.

And according to Health Castle:

Egg Varieties
Brown eggs: Eggshell color can vary but it has nothing to do with the quality, flavor, nutritive value, cooking characteristics or shell thickness of an egg. The eggshell color only depends upon the breed of the hen.

Omega 3 enhanced eggs: are from hens fed a diet flax seed or fish oils. Omega 3 enhanced eggs contain more omega 3 fatty acids and Vitamin E than the regular eggs. An independent test conducted by the CBC's TV show Marketplace found that omega-3 enhanced eggs contain approximately 7 times more omega 3 fatty acids than regular white eggs.

Organic eggs: are produced by hens fed certified organic grains without most conventional pesticides and fertilizers. Growth hormones and antiobiotics are also prohibited. Organic eggs have the same nutritional content, fat or cholesterol as regular eggs.

Free-Run or Cage-free eggs: are produced by hens that are able to move about the floor of the barn and have access to nesting boxes and perches. The nutrient content of these eggs is the same as that of regular eggs.

Free-Range eggs: are produced in a similar environment as cage-free eggs but hens have access to outdoor runs as well. The nutrient content of these eggs is the same as that of regular eggs.

Processed eggs: such as liquid egg whites or dried egg whites are shell eggs broken by special machines then pasteurized before being further processed and packaged in liquid, frozen or dried form. Process egg products may also contain preservatives and flavor or color additives.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

I spy...

I spy a mother daughter pair. Can you?

Sugar Cookie!

One thing we love to make in our house are sugar cookies. They taste great they are easy to make and the kids love helping! Years ago I found a small pastry dough roller, Isabella loves using it and it is very easy for her to handle.

TIP: If you want to ensure all of your cookies are the same depth. Add a few rubber bands to each of the ends of your roller and you will then ensure that you always roll out to the same depth!

Fun In The Snow

Fresh Hot Coco...

The best thing to have right after a long day out playing in the snow is a good warm cup of hot coco.
This day I did not have pre-made packets what should I do?
Well I just got crazy and decided to rogue. Yes I made it up along the way.

So I filled a small sauce pan with Whole Milk. Then I added semi sweet chocolate, which later I learned if you are not making HOT coco, and you are aiming for WARM coco for kids... this doesn't melt very fast!!
Then coco... dutch processes that is. I added that about 3 different times to get a good chocolate flavor.
Powdered sugar... I added it until it was sweet enough.
Cake spice to add a little something.
Pinch of salt.
Vanilla, because it goes with everything!!
Marshmallows to top it off.


It was amazing!

Family Picture with Snow Bunny

A face to love.

This is a face only a parent can love!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Snow Bunny

This weekend I took the girls outside in the great snow that we are currently having to make their first snowman. However, they did not want a snowman, yes they wanted a bunny.
Charlotte was very scared at first of the snow and she would touch it at all. It got to the point of me getting a blanket and laying it on the snow.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Luna-"bean" Follow Up

I wanted to do a follow up regarding Luna and her passing.
First let me tell you that our vet was amazing. They talked us through the entire process and went it was all said and done they sent us this note with Luna's actually paw print on it. How nice is that?

Also a lot of people were asking about how the kids are taking it. To start things off, Charlotte has asked only a hand full of times and when we give her an answer she drops it from there. However Isabella has been a little different.

In the past we have talked to Isabella about death and dieing due to the fact that she asks a lot of questions about Nicki's brother Keith. We have talked to her about "forever" and about when someone dies we cannot talk to them ever again. The concept of forever is not really sinking fast in but I think it is slowly. We have discussed how Keith is now and angel watching over us making sure we are safe. Whenever we tell her this there is almost a comfort look that comes over her. She is happy that Keith now has wings and can fly anywhere he wants to and watch us. Considering she has had breakdowns regarding the fact that she can never have wings and fly. It makes her happy that Keith can. All of these same concepts and emotions has been transferred/related to Luna. She smiles when I tell her Luna is now and angel and has wings.
Isabella also asks about what else can die. "Daddy can my doll die?" Then inevitable she starts expanding her questions to "Daddy can unicorns/dragons/other mythical creatures die?" Now when these come up my logic is since they don't exist I tell her no they can't die.

The question does still come up about why she had to go, but if you think about death in general you can ask that about any one, no matter how old or sick. Why them? Why now or then? I think as adults we learn not to ask these questions out loud, but we do vocalize them internally.

Find the comfort in today, be mindful. Hug extra tight, without looking over their shoulder to see what else is going on. Taste that much more, without only thinking about that next bite before you are done with the first. We only have today, right now and right here. It is a gift. The future hasn't happened and it never will... because it will be now!

Jonathan Livingston Seagull -

"Most of us came along ever so slowly. We went from one world into another that was almost exactly like it, forgetting right away where we had come from, not caring where we were headed, living for the moment. Do you have any idea how many lives we must have gone though before we even got the first idea that there is more to life than eating, or fighting, or power in the Flock? A thousand lives, Jon, ten thousand! And then another hundred lives until we began to learn that there is such a thing as perfection, and another hundred again to get the idea that our purpose is to find that perfection and show it forth. The same rule holds for us now, of course: we choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome."

"If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don't you think that we might see each other once or twice? "

"Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. "

"When you come to the edge of all the light you have known, and are about to step out into darkness, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen There will be something to stand on, or you will be taught to fly."

Sou'wester For All

Anytime our girls get a chance they love putting on their rain coats. Did you know depending on where in the world you are from there are many different styles of rain coats.

Mackintosh, rubberised cloth
Gannex
Waxed jacket (e.g. made in UK by Barbour and Burberry)
Anorak, derived from traditional Inuit designs
Cagoule, also Cagoul, Kagoule, Kagool
Poncho
Sou'wester
Trench coat
K-way
Driza-Bone, Australian oiled cotton

The Sou'wester is what I typically think of as the classic rain coat. Did you know according to Wiki...

"Oilskin jacket (sou'wester) and sou'wester hat.
A waterproof hat whose brim is longer in back than in front.
A long raincoat, often worn at sea.
Sou'westers were originally of oilcloth but may also be made of rubberized fabric or vinyl bonded to fabric."

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Dance Floor Out of Anything!

Last weekend Isabella took a blanket put it on the floor and decided it was her dance floor. Good time commenced, while Charlotte looked on.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Take your kid to work, weekend style!

So we had to get some work done over the weekend and we both happened to work in the same building right now. During the weel this a ¼ mile long hotspot of banking with around 9,000 people going every which way. However on the weekend this place turns into a ¼ mile indoor track that is completely secure. I never knew that work could be so much fun for the kids! Beware when you are in the cube farm area, they have tons of hiding spots... Not the best game I have ever played.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Window painting.

I guess it was always taboo to touch clean windows let alone draw on them. However Crayola has come up with markers that made for this specifically. They are fun to play with! Try them out.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Charlotte knows...

Here is our second installment of Charlotte rocking out some fashion!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Good bye Luna. "She honestly helped raise and protect our kids, that is worth the world to me"

This past week we had to say good bye to our beloved dog Luna. Luna was an excellent dog that protected our house at all costs. However she really never had to use her strength. Luna was a 150ish pound, over 4 foot tall (head to front foot) Blue Fawn, Great Dane that Nicole and I picked up when she was only 6 weeks old from a farm in Youngstown, Ohio. We decided to get her a week after we had to give up our last dog back to the adoption agency because she was injured. Luna was only 5 years old but she lived a full life.

While on campus we used to take Luna to all of the OSU tailgates and she absolutely loved it. While still at a young age Luna developed wobbler's which is a very bad syndrome that some dogs develop. She had major spinal surgery which gave her use of her back legs again but she never fully recovered. Luna suffered from very bad arthritis in he back legs for the rest of her life. While standing and sitting she most always cried out in pain.

After the kids were born Luna became very protective of them. If anything bad was happening to the girls she was the first one to notice and act on it. She would even give me the evil eye sometimes. She would mostly move where the girls were, I think just to make sure they are watched. Before bed time she would always walk around the house, specifically in the girls rooms prior to calling it a night.

Most people fear big dogs around kids but I am not sure if we could have had a better dog to care for our kids. If a limb of a child happened to be near she mouth she would always turn away, she was never sensitive of feeding time, when sitting she allowed out kids as babies to crawl all over her. She was a very caring, loving, and motherly dog.

Her health was starting to deteriorate she was crying out more and more. She was standing inwardly bow legged to stand up straight, she had almost complete incontinence, she was at the vet every other week with something different, and most recently she had some blood come out of her urine.

On January 26th, 2010 Luna while trying to move to the room where the girls were eating. Luna slipped and fell with her legs spread out. She could not get back up from this fall. This is where Nicole and I made the call. Gahanna Animal Hospital was very willing to fit us in at such a late hour and was great for the entire process. She feel asleep with Nicole hugging her neck and me holding up her head, until the weight became too much. I laid her head down and she was gone.

I want to thank everyone who ever met Luna and took the time to give her a hug. I know she was a loved dog. Every hug helped her to push on through her pain so she could spread her love and caring and stay just that much longer with us. She honestly helped raise and protect our kids, that is worth the world to me.

If you have a memory or thought about Luna please post in the comments section.

(Pictured: Isabella hugging Luna before we picked her up from where she fell, Luna's last picture.)

-- Sent from my Palm Prē