Archive for the 'Father’s Day' Category

And I’ll never look at a pit toilet the same way again.

Published on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 in Claire, Conversations, Father's Day, Fun, Photos and Travel. Closed Tags: , .

This is one of my favorite pictures from our camping weekend!

This last weekend, in honor of Father’s Day Weekend, and in honor of Daddy Isn’t On Call Weekend, and in honor of The Weather Promises to Be Awesome Weekend, we packed it up, packed it it and let it begin…

…we went camping!

The weather was perfect!

This time, we headed to locales to the northwest of us and tried out a new area.  When we go camping with other families, we wander off into the woods and live deliberately (i.e. without pit toilets), but this time, because we found an awesome spot when we got to where we were going, we tried out an official campground.

The campsite was just the right size for us! (And relatively private for a "real" campground.)

The upside to sharing the area with other campers is the pit toilet.  The downside to sharing the area with the other campers is the pit toilet.

You never know what you’re going to get with a pit toilet.  Pit toilets are always a crapshoot.  Literally.

I’m sorry.  I just couldn’t resist!

I must say, however, at this campground, the pit toilets were some of the cleanest I’ve seen.

On one of our numerous trips there, Claire got really excited.

“You know what, Momma!?”

“What, sweetheart?”

“This is just like going to the bathroom in a CASTLE!!!”

I couldn’t help but laugh.  We had been reading a book about castles that my mom and dad gave her, and one of the pictures they have in there is of the garderobe.  (That’s a fancy name for the “toilet” they used in the castle.)

“Yes!” I agreed.  “Yes, it is!”

“Only we don’t have a curtain,” she said.

“This is true.  We just have a door…but no curtain.”

“Do you know the best part??”

“What’s that?” I asked, wondering where this was headed.

“When I pee or poop, it goes in the SAUCE-PIT!”

“Sauce-pit?” I asked.  “Oh!  Yes!  It goes in the cesspit!”  I knew what she was trying to say a split-second after she said it.

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in a pit toilet in my life.

Key Lime Pie Recipe

Published on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 in Father's Day, Photos and Recipes. 1 Comment

I mentioned in the comment section of a previous post that I’d publish the Key Lime Pie Recipe I love to make. Well, here it is. I’d love to take credit for this, but I actually got it from Weight Watchers. It is the simplest recipe I’ve ever seen. The first time I made it, I was just sure I missed a step, because could it really be this easy? It is. There isn’t anything “real” in this recipe, so the pieces are only 3-points a piece.

I used to make it all the time, and we eventually got burned out on it. So, I stopped making it. When Claire and I were in the store gathering ingredients for the meal I was going to make my hubby for Father’s Day, I tried to find a ready-made Key Lime Pie, because it’s one of his favorite desserts. I couldn’t find one! Then it hit me…I used to make this! All the time! I got out my Palm Pilot, and sure enough, I still had the recipe with me. So, we gathered the ingredients and made it for him. He loved it!

Even he didn’t remember why I’d stopped making them. ;) So, we may have to make some more this summer.

Key Lime Pie

1 box (0.3 oz) sugar-free lime-flavor gelatin
1/4 cup boiling water
2 containers (6 oz each) key lime pie-flavor light yogurt
1 container (8 oz) frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
1 prepared 9″ reduced-fat graham cracker pie crust

In large heat resistant bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. With wire whisk, stir in yogurt; with wooden spoon, fold in whipped topping.

Transfer mixture to prepared crust; refrigerate overnight. (Note: You don’t have to let it set overnight, but the longer it sets, the better.)

I’m not a foodie, nor am I good at taking photos of food or the steps it takes to make a recipe. (Cathy, from The Noble Pig, is…you should check out her blog sometime for some really cool recipes!) In fact, the only picture I was able to snap of this pie was when it was almost gone. Claire is finishing the last half of the last piece.

Click photo to enlarge.
Clicking a second time will show more detail.

Key Lime Pie

It’s a good thing this pie is so easy to make, because it certainly doesn’t last long. ;)

Monday Random Thoughts

Published on Monday, June 16, 2008 in Father's Day and Random Thoughts. 4 Comments

Here is a list of six random thoughts for a Monday morning, in no particular order:

  • We have a sump pump so that our basement won’t flood and create a huge mess. To check to see if the sump pump is working, it’s really hard not to make a huge mess. Granted, the mess isn’t as huge as it would be if the sump pump wasn’t working…so I do it, but only once a year.
  • Hearing my hubby involuntarily say, “Mmmmm!” while eating a recipe I threw together on a whim for him on Father’s Day is awesome. He loves Asian/Thai food, and I concocted a recipe involving scallops, shrimp, ginger, garlic, asparagus and coconut milk. I wasn’t using an official recipe, so I was hoping it would turn out well, and it did!
  • People often ask if I see the glass half empty or half full. Since having a toddler, my response is, “I don’t care, as long as you keep it away from the edge of the table.”
  • I could have sworn that Sleeping Beauty was a brunette…or at least had some form of darkish, brownish hair. She looks totally different now than I remember in my childhood memories. According to all the Disney Princess Paraphernalia strewn about my daughter’s room, she’s blond. Am I thinking of someone else? Has she always been a blonde? Would it be completely dorky for me to research this? And, does it really matter?
  • My heels were horribly dry and cracked this winter, and I thought it would go away this spring. It didn’t. I had a consultation with Dr. Google, and followed his (her?) advice. The cream I have now is like a miracle potion and my heels are nearly completely crack-free after just three days! The reviews of the product mentioned that it has a slight odor, but they weren’t specific and said it wasn’t a deal-breaker to using the cream. As soon as I opened the package, I was anxious to see what it smelled like. It’s the perfect mixture of Band-Aids® and Nursing Homes. They were right; it’s interesting and distinctive, but not a deal breaker.
  • Growing up, we used the word “tinkle” for the word “pee.” My hubby and I don’t use the word “tinkle” with Claire, and I don’t think she’s ever heard it. However, since some of Claire’s big girl panties have TinkerBell™ on them, and since my life has become consumed by the potty training process, I can’t help but call the little character on her panties Tinkle Bell in my head. I have to try really hard not to laugh out loud.

Father’s Day Weekend Update

Published on Monday, June 18, 2007 in Claire, Father's Day, From the offline blog, Home Improvement and Home Improvement - Master Bath. Closed

We had a good weekend! As predicted, I could barely pull my hubby away from the bathroom project…but you know what I realized? He’s not really happy unless he’s covered in dirt, goop and/or bleeding…so it was the perfect way for him to spend “his” day! :) (He cut his thumb, but we got the bleeding to stop, and I don’t think we’ll have to amputate.)

We got a lot done! He got all the cement-board installed on the floor in front of the sink, and then he got all of the seams and screw holes in the entire bathroom mudded on Sunday! Because it was so hot and dry, the dry-time was incredibly short, so he had to work fast! (Side note: Our attic fan is really working! It wasn’t too hot in the house yesterday, even though it was in the 90s!) Luckily, we don’t have to deal with the humidity!

Luckily (Unfortunately?) ;) I got to help him, because a lot of the work corresponded with Claire’s naptimes. It actually went really well on Sunday. Saturday was a different story, and he had to cut a couple pieces twice. You would have thought the world had ended and that the whole entire project was RUINED. He’s so dramatic. He ate lunch and I helped him look at the mistakes that were made, and we found a way to adjust and make it work. He’s such a drama queen sometimes, and it’s always exacerbated when he’s hungry. :)

Saturday night, we grilled with some of our friends. Their son is going to be 4-months old at the end of the month, but he still seems so tiny! He is such a cutie. Claire was REALLY GOOD with him. She kept patting him gently on the head and saying, “Ohhhh, baby.” And, she’d ask to give him a hug, and he loved it. He’s at the stage where he’s really starting to smile and laugh and “talk.” He told her all kinds of stories.

Last night, after finishing up this stage of the bathroom, we all went out to eat. Daddy had requested Thai food, so we went to one restaurant, only to see that it’s closed for remodeling! So, we went to another, and we had a great time. We discovered that Claire LOVES brown rice, and she ate her entire body weight in it! We also had them do up an order of Yakatori (just grilled chicken) for her without the sauce, and she thought that was okay, but we couldn’t tear her away from the brown rice. The restaurant was very accommodating, and we had a great time. She, of course, wanted to try the sushi, and I’m just not ready to go there with her.

After we got home, we placed a video call to Granny and Grandpa on the webcam, and they had a great time playing peek-a-boo and talking with Claire. Last time we did that, she was very confused and kept looking for them in the rest of the house. This time, she seemed to understand that they weren’t really here. :)