Geysers, waterfalls, buffalo, elk

On the way to Wyoming

Laura 'n Jack

Moustaches, Beergaritas, Fiesta!

Bride's Tea Party

Lessons

This week I have learned that.............

I LOVE Colorado and miss it dearly. So good to be back.

Chickens are both interesting and weird.

Chicken pox is not fun.

I love kitties. And dogs. But not so much squirrels.

Family weddings are the best kind.

The POX!

What could be more fun than a wedding in Colorado? How about some chicken pox? Anyone? No? Aww come on it'll be loads of fun.

Yeah, so, uh, the girls came down with the chicken pox 2 days after we got to Colorado. Excellent. The first sign of the blisters came with Olivia on her tummy, about 3, which we assumed to be mosquito bites. The girls played outside all day Saturday and it would not be out of the ordinary for one to assume mosquito bites. Then they spent the night with their aunties and came home with more "bites". I didn't know what it was, fleas, other bugs. By Monday they were covered all over their torsos and a little on their legs and upper arms. The Grandmas took a look and said "Chicken pox", I was hoping it to be something else, anything else. They are to be flower girls in a wedding Saturday and can't be poxed up. The confirmation came with a phone call from Keith. The little girl across the street who they were playing with the days before we left came down with chicken pox. I called the Doc and inquired about the disease. I was hoping to learn more about how it manifests in children who have had the 2 doses of vaccinations. I wanted to know if they would be well enough to be in the wedding, particularly will they be contagious to others. The Doctor's office was very unhelpful, not even telling me basic info such as what to do, which confirmed that I wasted my time. Unless I took the girls in for an office visit they were not going to provide me with any help. I don't know what they think I was going to be able to do so far away. Actually I think it had more to do with them disbelieving that my children with the 2 doses of the vaccination could have even gotten the chicken pox. They kept asking me "Are you sure it's the chicken pox and not something else?" because having 4 confirmed cases of kids on our street wasn't enough. The six children that were swimming together and playing for 2 days straight all came down with the disease. So yeah, I'm pretty sure it's chicken pox. They insisted I go to an urgent care or other doctor have them confirm it, have that doctor call my doctor and confirm it and then after being out about $400.00 they would tell me what I wanted to know. It's not worth the hassle or the loss of cash to confirm what I already know to be true. The good news is that even though the girls have chicken pox they are quite well, you wouldn't even know they have it, playing and acting like normal. Perhaps this means that they will have extra immunity?

My life lesson to all you out there with kids: Just because your child has received the 2 doses of the chicken pox vaccination it does not mean they can't get the illness. It will be very mild and way better than if it was contracted without the vaccine.

Vegetable landscape

Have you noticed this new trend of using vegetables to landscape? I have seen this all over and I think it's wonderful. This shopping center used tomatoes, cabbage, various herbs and annuals to make a colorful and clever garden. It sits right across from a popular burger joint. Could it be a way to encourage appetite? Though the question I have is who gets to eat the produce? I figure if you see that it's ripe it's yours. Somehow that may not be the case but we can hope.

Nifty Ideas: Wedding

Another round of fantastic nifty ideas I have discovered. You too may become inspired by these nifty things and in turn create your own. If you have any of your own nifty ideas please share them with me I'd love to learn about what is nifty to you!

This week's theme is weddings in honor of my sister-in-law's upcoming wedding.

The highlight of most wedding receptions is the Bar. That's for grownups what about the kids? Creating a bar for them by using candy is the way to go. A well set up Candy Bar is sure to be the highlight of the wedding for all the kids. Think of the fun you can have creating this with all those colorful candies in pretty jars.

Need some unique ideas for what to do at your wedding? Try this site Unique Wedding Ideas for inspiration.

Planning a Bride's picnic or afternoon tea? These very cute little picnic basket favors would be just the thing to set on the table.

If you will have lots of children at the wedding and are concerned about ways to keep them occupied there are some great ideas from the Colorado Weddings Magazine for Entertaining the Children.

Father's Day and a dress

Lessons

This week I have learned that......

There is always one more thing to do just before you go on a long trip.

For some reason it is so difficult to find 2 pairs of white sandals for my girls. Why must it be so hard when I really need something?

I am beat after packing for 4 people. It's such a drain on my thinker.

Trying to get everything in a smallish bag that is not going to kill my back is really a challenge.

Where I try to make a Strawberry Rhubarb pie

Pie is pie right? Well, sort of. When using things I know of, know their ways and such it is an easy task. Then I happen to see all that fab looking rhubarb at the market and those strawberries, well, how can I not want to make them into a pie? So, there I was, considering that strange looking celery and wondering if I should give it a go. I might have been talking to myself, all the thoughts spilling from my mouth as I verbally decided, since there were a few folks watching me closely. Good thing there was a crazy woman wrestling the plastic sacks throwing apples around. Compared to her I looked quite sane. I may have talked out loud but I didn't curse the fruit and plastic sacks before going to fondle the greeting cards. (Shopping during the day is quite an experience.)

Alright. When I got the fruit home it sat on my counter and I considered it some more.

Rhubarb.

Red looking celery thing with poisonous leaves.

Someone thought it worthy of pie. And someone learned the leaves are poisonous.

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb....well time you became pie.

For the first time in a long while I had to go find me a pie recipe. I have no idea what to do with this rhubarb stuff and how much to use and well, everything. I found one that looked right good. A lady named Elise created her recipe by taking the best of two others she used previously. As I gathered my ingredients I noticed on the back of the box of tapioca there was a recipe for the pie. Well then, that's how it always goes, eh? Finally the pirate chef in me said 'to heck with one or the other, just use 'em as guidelines' and so I did. I added some things I had that I think would be a good twist and the result is my own recipe.

All hope abandon ye who use this recipe.

Pirate Strawbe(arrrrr!)y Rhubarb Pie
pastry for a 9 inch pie

2 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder (I use Nielsen-Massey brand of Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla powder)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix together the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, tapioca, orange peel, ginger, and vanilla powder. Let rest 10 minutes. Roll out pastry, lining the pie pan with one crust. Gently mix the ingredients once more before turning out into the pastry lined pan. Top with second pastry, trim edges and crimp together the pastry. Cut slits in the top to vent. Place pie on baking sheet, put pie shield on top of crust edges. If you do not have a pie shield of any sort then you'll have to make your own from foil. Simply tear off thin strips (usually I use 3), about 2-4 inches, and mold around the pie crust edges. Be careful not to squish it on too tight, you'll want room for the crust to bake so that the foil does not pierce the pastry. Alternately you can fold a 12-inch foil square into quarters. With scissors, cut out center and round off edges. That should make a 2-inch-wide ring once unfolded. Place foil ring over pie.

Bake pie for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 30-40 minutes. Cool on a rack. This pie should cool completely before serving. If you can not wait just be prepared for the filling to be runny. Don't worry because the tapioca will set once the filling is cool, but there may not be any pie left once you get a taste.

That Cat