Maggie's Puppy Party at Leo's Place

Ever since Bella came along, (well, and before that, actually) everything in Maggie's world has been either puppies or ponies. And since I was tired and didn't want to throw a huge party this year, we took advantage of Leo's Place (like Chuck E Cheese only with better food and a huge play place) for the entertainment and food provisions. She got to take her five best friends, and we all had a wonderful pizza-eating, present-oogling, cake devouring, arcade-invading good time!
Thank you again to Gary for decorating the cake - he's awesome, as always!

Yes, we are a ski-ball family. Spence can really hurl those balls! He even beat me once! I was actually trying, too!

Mother's Day

So I know Mother's Day was a month ago, but I forgot to put these pictures up. Mother's Day 2010 began inauspiciously as I spent the first 40 minutes of it cleaning up dog pooh from the bathroom (the dog sleeps through the night now but those first few nights, we didn't really realize that she'd need to go out at 4 AM so we let her pooh on the newspapers in her room. M.E.S.S.Y. She's almost potty trained now, thank heavens!).It got better though - I made crepes; went on a nice walk with the dog and kids; had nice, relaxing church meetings in the afternoon; then the whole extended family came from the surrounding area to have a family dinner honoring mothers in general and Nanny (my paternal grandmother) in particular. Nana and Papa (my parents) were up here too, and nothing makes my kids' day like having their grandparents in town! (sorry, ignore the ugly decorations - I haven't collected nice, matching tablecloths for four big tables yet but I'm going to as soon as I can afford it!) Dinner was easy and yummy as everyone brought their favorite potluck item, with Aunts Diana and Mary Kay providing tasty pulled pork sandwiches.

What's a dinner out in the party barn without disco lights and dance music? All the cousins totally jammed out to Thriller and Hoedown Throwdown and the Cha Cha slide - it was awesome! Another huge highlight: watching second cousin Brooklyn (who had a stroke in utero and was not supposed to see, hear, or walk - ever) taking some of her first unassisted steps. Holy. Wonderful. Freaking. Cow! She is such a miracle!

I love so much that I got to spend this day with my Nanny. She is a true treasure. She calls frequently, just to see how I am doing and if she can do anything for me - it never fails to brighten my day! She is a whiz on the piano and the sewing machine, and her skills are frequently called upon to make curtains, pillows, dolls, bedspreads... and all is done with consummate skill and taste. She is elegant, lovely, accomplished, kind, thoughtful and always performing service -we just adore her!

My New Favorite Smoothie

Ah, the secret of the Green Smoothie. Why did no-one ever tell me that if you blend spinach and other greens with water in a blender, then add regular smoothie ingredients (bananas, berries, ice, plain yogurt or silken tofu, etc) you can't taste the spinach??? Seriously, what a great trick, especially as I have a couple of picky eaters! And, because before, I didn't know how to use kale or chard. (who does?) Anyway, it's been a fascinating and delicious couple of weeks.

Here's my most recent fav. It's definitely a green Green Smoothie, which I guess I can tolerate well because I worked in a juice store one summer during college and acclimated my taste buds to really healthy tasting things. But the health benefits are astronomical, and after a body-destroying day of gardening, hiking or, um, reading Jane Austen novels, I feel like this smoothie really helps my body heal.

Mindy's Green Smoothie
Ingredients (all of these are approximate or to taste):

small handful washed spinach leaves
other green leafies, like kale, cabbage or chard
1/4 lemon, rind included
1/2 inch peeled fresh ginger
fresh parsely (optional - adds to the freshness)

Blend well. Then add:
ice
1 banana
1 pear or apple, seeded
agave nectar to taste
any additives like bee pollen, ground flax, wheat germ, etc.

Blend well and give yourself a gold star for good health today! It makes a lot, so if you can only eat some of it, put the remainder in the fridge, then blend it up tomorrow with ice and it will still be great.