These kids can eat

So, we went to lunch at Milagros on Saturday & took the whole fam with us. It used to be a get-away lunch spot for Angela & I, but we started taking the whole gang there once they were more into trying all foods. Now, look out! These kids take on the menu. It used to be the chick-nugs that are Miles' standard fare, but we went on to Tamales, & letting them try anything we had. Guacamole is a hit.



They eat grilled shrimp from Angela's salad & they eat grilled fish from my tacos. Very cool, but nothing extraordinary. Except, one day I got a sampler platter - some sort of seafood mixer - & it came with ceviche. OMG, these two, especially Dane, could not get enough!



Now, they get chips & guacamole, a tamale, an appetizer plate of ceviche that is four large tortilla chips piled high with the stuff which, by the way, is composed of chunks of white fish, cucumber, onion, jalapeño pepper, etc. Yes, I weed out the pepper, but the oil is in the mix. Not a problem for these two! Now, I barely get a taste as they devour the whole thing, plus they still get plenty of fork-fulls from our plates.



Mixed blessings, I guess... :)

Thanksgiving: Give thanks for friends & family

And thank god it's over!

Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun to have everyone come to our house & to be able to cook the turkey for all. In all, it was my mom, Jim McC., Alex, his cousin Olivia, myself, Angela & the kids. Also, was my birthday, which I had no interest in celebrating during the rest of the festivities, and managed to keep to a minimum.

Kids were having a great time with Uncle Alex & Olivia &, of course, were not able to rest with the temptation of them being there. They did a pretty goo d job of handling the evening, but when they could do no more, took a quick turn, including Miles who vocalized his delirious opinions.

Aside from that, it was really a great time. So relieved the turkey turned out well. Tried that brining & barbecuing thing, & it actually paid off. Something else to give thanks for, I guess!

A couple shots of Calvados (The Norman Hole) to help get out bellies opened back up & ready for the next bit o' food to go down. A huge bottle of champagne, several bottles of wine (it looked like a wine tasting more than a Thanksgiving diner!) and the whole night ended happily after 11 p.m.

37 years old. A great night with family & friends. Thanks

Am I the only one that finds humor in the torture?!

Well, being almost exclusively the one behind the camera, I have to entertain myself somehow...hence, the following picture of Miles & Dane.


Innocent enough & funny on its own, this image is the outcome of turning off the light completely & popping a picture with the flash blazing! Miles is looking for the hand on the lightswitch, but poor Dane is trying to come to grips with the sudden loss of light & the weird red flickering in his face. LOL!!!

Can a dad be any more proud of his boys?!

Then, not being satisfied with that, I took advantage of Miles' instructing me to go outside & take-up the charge of scaring him & The Twins. Previously, I had been snapping pics form behind them, literally of behinds of them, while both my mom & Angela had been terrorizing from outside.

As you can see, the scare, though anticipated, was still sucessful. Miles launched the bubble blower at me to ward off the evil spirits.



Luckily, they were in the tub at the time, so there were no dirty drawers to change!!! :P

Soph hip, it hurts

I just had to put this photo up of Sophie in one of her famous smiling moments. She was frumpy, yet tragically hip in her little sweats & her brown knit sweater, topped off with a grey duffle. I don't know why, but I love seeing her in this hat. And luckily for me, she is pretty accommodating.

Maybe it has something to do with my childhood as seen in the following image of me & mom. How cool of a look is that?!



As for me, notice the Fort Lewis shirt & the huge smile for her...

A "Miles Quote of the Day"

So, when my mom was down visting this last weekend, Miles took it upon himself to comment on Gramma Dyann's choice of footwear by proclaming, "Gramma, those are man shoes!"

They were a lovely pair of black athletic shoes, for your reference.

Luckily, all involved had a good laugh. :)

Cause he's The Master...

The Master...of Disaster!

This tend to be our little song for...well, let's just call him Mr. Smith, to conceal his identity...during his daily trips, falls, bumps, bangs, etc. Sometimes he plays along, but then tries to pass the buck by calling one of us (any one of us) The Master. We all know the truth. ;)

Now, I am not saying I am with out injury. Just ask my mom.I have hit my head on more inanimate objects than a Metallica fan, front-stage at a concert. I am the epitomy of the term, "Scratch & dent model." But still, I have never been, The Master.

Now, Mr. Smith sometime back, injured his ring finger quite badly. Let's just say, it is the worst injury I think I've seen on someone beyond myself. And the only one that has ever made me unnerved or queazy. But, things have healed quite well, though it still really bums me out to see it in its damaged state. Don't know if it will ever look totally normal.

Anyway...Mr. Smith has been using the right hand much more often now that he's getting used to being able to have full use of it. We're out on a walk today &, Mr. Smith, is jumping in puddles with the rain boots we've put him in while his brother & sister are laughing at the spectacle. Out of the blue, while he is walking on grass, The Master appears & takes Mr. Smith down! No biggie, right? It's grass for godssake! But noooo, The Master beelines right for the only 3 or 4 stepping stones in the whole grassy area. Now, as you can see from the image below (we again, have hidden Mr. Smith's face to conceal his true identity) that said ring finger is now badaged with a monkey band-aid.

click the image to see it up close


I mean, come on! The Master scraped his finger open, THE finger open on the freshly growing back nail & it starts to bleed. Well, long story short, The Master managed to only injure the only thing he, or any of us for that matter, didn't want to hurt again! OK, that was my rant. Enough of Mr. Smith. On to other more fun things.

Miles! :P

Check out those rain boots! Kristin scored these for Miles from a friend who had a friend, who had a store, who was going out of business...yada yada yada. Anyway, Kristin glommed on to a stash of shoes for the kids, including a pair of gold, open-toed sandals for Sophie. Cool puddle-stompin' galoshes. Thanks Kristin!

And lastly...



Cause, I really do love him. He is m'boy! My little Monkeyboy.

Miles Pollock

a Miles Pollock original

So, there's this very cool site that I have bookmarked & is used almost exclusively by Miles.

http://www.jacksonpollock.org/

It's the coolest little thing! It gives people the oportunity to be Jackson Pollock for a moment. Well, being who I am, & as impressed as I was both with the site & then Miles' creations, I had to "grab" them & put them up for everyone to experience.

I highly recommend those with kids who need creative outlets, but maybe do without the time, setup, or mess of normal activities, to try it. It get's the Lewis' 9/10 thumbs up. It wasn't a 10 out of 10 just because you have to kind of tunr a blind-eye to the fact that your child is click-clacking away with your mouse on your computer. You just have to be prepared for the random mis-clicked action (missing files, the whole desktop highlighted, new pages up or programs open. :D


a Miles Pollock original

So, you say you want sushi?

Well, Miles wanted it this week, & he lived up to his promise of having a good day & taking a nap, so we did. Funny thing is, he calls it shushi. Cracks me & Angela up to no end. Especially when he's adding other greats in like, "Sophie & Dane are going nif me to shushi?"

Gotta love that kid!

BTW, shushi was a shucksess! Babies ravaged most all that was put in front of them & even Miles (aka Mr. Picky) managed to eat lots of noddle miso, edamame, ama ebi legs (fried head section of raw sweet shrimp), yakatori chicken, agedashi tofu. And, of course, green tea ice cream.

Was a good night.