Friday, March 27, 2009Police: Man adds meth to wife’s water to give her energy

MORTON, Wash. — A Lewis County man faces assault and child endangerment charges after detectives say he made his wife drink water spiked with meth.

The woman was breast-feeding their three-month-old child at the time. She said she did not know the meth was in the water.

The 34-year-old man told investigators he hoped the meth would give her energy to clean the house.

The man is currently locked up in the Lewis County jail on another pending charge. Detectives said they learned of the meth incident while listening to the inmates phone calls.

Thursday, March 26, 2009The Stick Adventure!

Today I took the boys for a walk on one of the trails at Carkeek Park. I told them we were on an adventure to find sticks, one of which we could put in the cage for Chicken Nugget and Pom Pom and they were quite excited to go exploring. (Warning: this post is photo heavy!)

Part of the trail…


Adam on the trail. Ahead of him on the trail is Rudy the dog and his owner. We ran into Rudy a few times and he was very friendly to the boys.


A fallen tree…


Josh and his stick…


The usual suspects…


Whatever was down there was captivating!


Look, my rock landed down there!


About two thirds of the way through our walk, Adam found this giant stick which he then dragged around for the rest of the trail…


Being a 3 year old boy, of course he had to see how high he could lift it!


Josh and a rock Adam gave him…


Of course, what good is a big stick if you don’t poke it into a stream?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Photo by The Pioneer Woman

3 red bell peppers
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream
Flat leaf parsley, finely minced
Fresh Parmesan, shaved or grated
1/2 to 1 pound pasta: orecchiette, penne, fusilli, etc.

Roast red peppers, then place in a Ziploc bag to allow to sweat. Peel the charred skins from the peppers, then removed seeds. Set aside.
Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet. Set aside.
Puree peppers with pine nuts. Set aside.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a skillet or pot over medium heat, drizzle in olive oil. Add diced onions and garlic and cook until soft. Pour in pepper puree and stir together. Add plenty of salt.
Pour in cream and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt, if necessary. Add cooked pasta, then stir together.
Place pasta into a bowl, top with chopped parsley and plenty of shaved Parmesan.

Source: www.thepioneerwoman.com

Wednesday, March 25, 2009A classic example of “mommy brain”!

Today I loaded Josh into the mom-mobile and we went to pick up Adam from preschool. Upon successful acquisition of the monkey, we headed to Trader Joe’s to restock our supply of organic lollipops. We arrived and found rock star parking, unloaded the troops, and headed in.

It was while we were at the checkout (where, incidentally, I spent $29 on things other than lollipops which they were out of), that I started getting the sneaking suspicion that I had forgotten to lock the car. It happens on occasion, but I brushed the thought aside as being silly and focused on paying. With a happy wave from Josh, we departed the store and headed to the parking lot.

It was there that I stared with horror at the startling proof of my mommy brain in all its glory. Not only had I not locked the car, I had left the side door of the minivan wide open with my bag sitting right there. I had taken my wallet inside but left my handbag behind - complete with my new digital camera and digital video camera. This wasn’t a parking space tucked away behind other cars either, it was the first spot in front of the store with the crosswalk right beside it where people undoubtedly walked past and marveled at my stupidity.

I need a nap.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009Woman arrested after shackling self to husband

HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - An American woman handcuffed herself to her sleeping husband in an apparent attempt to resolve an argument, but police ended up breaking into their home and charging her with assault and other crimes, authorities said on Tuesday.

Helen Sun, 37, handcuffed herself to Robert Drawbough as he slept in their Fairfield, Connecticut, home on Monday in an effort to reconcile their differences, police said.

But when Drawbough called police with his cell phone, Sun responded by biting him on the arms and torso, police said.

Police officers heard screams when they arrived at the home and forced their way in, said Chris Lyddy of the Fairfield Police Department. Sun had also changed the locks on their bedroom door.

Sun was charged with third-degree assault, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment and unlawful restraint. She was released on a $400 bond.

“I can’t say I’ve ever seen a scenario quite like this,” said Lyddy.

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

Tuesday, March 24, 2009Sweet and Sour Disaster

Well, I had hoped to post a new recipe tonight, complete with glowing reviews of how yummy it was. I cooked sweet and sour pork for dinner tonight with the above image in my head. I had visions of yumminess in my head that slowly dissipated with every minute that passed in the cooking process. What we ended up with was dry pork chunks with an almost flavourless sauce. Yeah. Definitely will not be posting that recipe!

Tuesday, March 24, 200960-foot penis painted on roof

An 18-year-old has secretly painted a 60ft drawing of a phallus on the roof of his parents’ £1million mansion in Berkshire. It was there for a year before his parents found out. They say he’ll have to scrub it off when he gets back from travelling.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/newsbeat/newsid_7961000/7961224.stm

Sunday, March 22, 2009James is so compassionate…

This conversation just occurred:

James in the kitchen: Uh oh, this knife seems to have slipped and cut a slice of cake.
Me in the living room: Uh-huh.
James walking into the living room with crumbs on his face: The slice of cake just committed suicide in my mouth!
Me: Well it’s a good thing you were there to witness it so that even in death it had purpose.
James: Exactly!

Monday, March 16, 2009Pork Chops with Scalloped Potatoes

3 Tbs. butter or margarine
3 Tbs. all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 can (14 ½ oz) chicken broth
6 rib or loin pork chops ( ¾ inch thick)
2 Tbs. cooking oil
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled potatoes (about 4 lb.)
1 medium onion, sliced

In a greased crock pot (or a greased 13 in by 9 in by 2 in baking dish), layer potatoes and onion.
In a skillet, brown pork chops in oil. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired. Remove pork chops from pan and set aside.
Melt butter in skillet. Stir in flour, salt and pepper.
Add broth and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Cook for 1 minute.
Pour the broth mixture over potatoes and onions.
Place pork chops on top.
Cover and bake in crock pot for 6 hours.

Source: I don’t remember which website I got this from!

Sunday, March 15, 2009The Rainforest Cafe

Last night we braved the torrential rain and drove to Southcenter to go to the Rainforest Cafe. It is a Rainforest themed restaurant with vines, animatronic animals, aquariums, and various other rain forest type things. Adam absolutely loved it, especially when we were seated under a fake sky complete with shooting stars, planets, and changing colours. The food wasn’t great, but we went more for the boys to have the experience and it was definitely a hit despite the long wait for a table!

Adam and James ready for dinner…

Poor Josh was getting a bit impatient for dinner by the time we were seated! And before anyone says anything, yes we do let the boys drink soda when we are out for a meal. It’s a special treat.

One of the incarnations of the fake sky above our table…

One of the aquariums in the restaurant happened to be right by our table…

A butterfly near our table…

Another butterfly. I wish I had been able to get a photo of the rainbow over the water area but that wasn’t near our table and the place was busy!