Aquarium = Meh

We thought we would make Landon's week by bringing him to the aquarium over the holiday, but I think he rather have stayed home and kept to his usual antics.  Like drooling on the floor and trying to pick it up (the kid's gonna' be a genius, I tell you!).  But seriously, what kid doesn't love the aquarium?  There were little crusty-nosed toddlers all over the place going crazy for the fishies and other wildlife, but Landon was content to just veg out for a glorified stroller ride.

"Let me tell you about one of the most boring days of MY LIFE."

At least the two disinterested kids had each other to look at.

The eerie blue green color from the aquarium highlights all the new little wrinkles that surface in your 30s.

 

Dad and Landon with the USS Lexington (carrier museum) in the background of CC Bay

Mom and Dad stop trying to entertain Landon and look at cool exhibits.  Like jellyfish!

"Sure, sharks are swimming around me, but that informational slide show on the TV in the corner is just FASCINATING!"

"We're almost done here, right? This dolphin show is creepy."

"Okay, we're done. No more photos. Close up shop. Take me home.  Now."

I think he would have enjoyed the otters, at least, but they were taking naps and sunning on their rocks, so he didn't get to see them in action.  Some other time, I suppose.  At least Erik and I had a nice day despite our mini Grumpy McGrumperston companion.

10 Months

To circumvent the issue we had with Landon's 9 month photo shoot in which he wouldn't sit still, I tried to take the 10 month photo when he was a little sleepy in the morning. I also put Jack's Big Music Show on the TV to preoccupy his thoughts. Well it worked - I had the opposite problem from last month. This time he was like a little blob. If we was wearing pants, the kid would have had his hand tucked into the waistband like Al Bundy.

"Meh."

"Get me my sippy cup, woman."

Okay, we got excited for the sing-a-long part, at least.

He is still cruising around the house with his walker, but hasn't taken steps on his own yet. We expect it will happen within the next couple weeks... especially since he is about to start hanging out with other kiddos more frequently. Yes, the other milestone is that I am putting L in a local daycare a couple days a week so he can explore more activities and hang out with friends. I took him for a test run last week and he was basically like, "Smell ya' later, Mom!" when I put him down to play with a bunch of young toddlers. This will most definitely be harder on me than him, for sure. *Sniff, sniff*

Current Likes:
- Maneuvering under and around chairs
- Cheddar cheese and chicken chunks
- When Mommy runs around on the ground like a doggie
- Ripping patches off of Daddy's flight suits

Current Dislikes:
- Cabinet locks and drawer stops
- Being pulled away from the refrigerator door and the dishwasher door

Chicken-o-Matic

I do like the rotisserie chickens you can buy in the deli section of the grocery store - they are yummy and convenient. But my frugal conscience sits on one shoulder, nagging "You know you can get twice the bird for the same price if you just took care of business yourself." So I'm trying to be better about roasting (read: slow cooking) my own chicken at home. Does it get the delicious crispy skin? Nope. But that's okay, since that's a health hazard anyway. I prefer to save my fat consumption for Snickers, as readers should well know by now.

I was able to buy a cage-free ("roam, little buddy, roam!") 4.5 pound chicken on sale for about $6. I got tons of meat from it:

Plate o' shredded goodness, plate o' discarded yuckies and a crockpot that needs a good external cleaning one o' these days.

This is enough to carry us through a full batch of enchiladas, a chicken salad for moi, a couple chicken quesadillas and tidbits for Landon to nosh on at dinner time. Between the initial rinse of the bird, the intermediary Lysol scrub down and the final shredding activities, it was only about 25 minutes effort.

Crockpot Chicken:

- Rinse chicken under cold water and pat dry (I also get rid of any of the weird stuff in the bird...*shudder*).

- Throw a few foil balls in bottom of crockpot; rest chicken on top

- Season with salt, pepper, paprika, etc. Whatever you want, really. I'm not sure if it makes much of a difference, because the skin is going to fall off anyways. Which brings me to my next point...

- I cooked the 4.5 pound bird for about 7 hours on low and the darn thing fell apart when I tried to pull it out. Like, seriously fell apart into 20 pieces. This was fine since I was looking to just use it for shredded meat, anyways.

The wishbone fell right out!

You don't know about the wishbone? Pssh, you are missing out, my friend. My mom used to give my brother and I the wishbone out of the Sunday chicken roast for us to break using our pinkies. Whoever got the largest piece out of the break had their wish come true. Well, that was the legend, at least. Now that I recall, I don't think I did ever get to meet Richard Marx for my 12th birthday. Hmm...

Blackbeard Appears in Kingsville

We held our annual barbecue this past weekend and it was a good ol' time. We had a nice turnout with about 30 people; the only major hiccup was that it was one of the hottest weekends in South Texas, so it took a while for people to start shuffling to the outdoor games, understandably. Around the 6:00pm mark, most folks were outside and the party lasted out there until 2:00am thanks to spotlights and tiki torches.

Upgraded to a 10 pound pork shoulder this year. It takes *forever* to shred 10 pounds of pork.

As hosts, we were happy to see the set up in which people could play beer pong, corn hole and beer die worked out well when all the tables were in use simultaneously throughout the evening. It was like a mini beer olympics. I was also happy there were no scorpion stings, tarantula sightings or other small critter issues. [No joke: I bought Benadryl to have on standby in case there were any sting/allergy issues.]

All the guys were comparing their growth of boat 'staches. Landon's was the best in my opinion.

The inaugural use of Erik's hand made Penn State corn hole boards.

The last men (and women) standing were treated to our Japanese Pirate game (黒ひげ危機一発 "Blackbeard in Danger") , which always brings out the 5 year old in everyone. Basically you stick swords in the barrel until the pirate pops out - the winning* sword has to drink a shot of sake. I love the hilarious shouting chorus of "Ooohhh!!!!" when there is a winner*. And I love how ironically it always happens to the same winner* multiple times in a row. Or how a winner* resets the game for the next round and then becomes a winner* again immediately when the first sword sends the pirate soaring.



Overall it was a fun night and the clean up wasn't too bad in the morning, which is always much appreciated. Thanks to all who made it!

* By winning, I mean losing.

Looks Like I Need to Invest in More Charmin

You know you have a mischievous baby on the loose when all your bathrooms look a little something like this:


I especially like how Landon left his toy crab as a calling card. Just in case I thought it was someone else.

Down a Notch

Well after the hangovers of last weekend, the past couple days were "down a notch" kinda' days. We went to an arts and craft fair, Erik made baked potato soup, cleaned up the garage, etc. Suburban nuclear family life at its best. No complaints from yours truly. I find it best to contemplate on average days such as these and find peace and happiness in the doldrums of everyday life.

We did attend a small get together put on by the Indian flight students and it was a really nice time and the food was DELICIOUS! Even though our geographical area is one of the fattest in the nation and there are restaurants EVERYWHERE, there are no Indian restaurants. Boooo. We settle for my own chickpea curry a couple times a month. But after having enjoyed the authentic spread Saturday night, my curry will forever be shamed.

We also found out on Friday that Erik is going to the boat in a couple weeks to get his Carrier Qualification. This means he actually has to catch a wire. For non-aviation peeps, that means using the tailhook of the jet to catch one of three (or four) arresting cables on the deck of an aircraft carrier while landing. And yes, its a big deal. And yes, Erik is already growing the prerequisite mustache in carrier tradition. Ugh. I thought we were done with boat 'staches for a few years, but I stand corrected.

What else? Our annual Halvorson barbecue is this weekend so I am gearing up for that. On the menu is the standard hamburgers and hot dogs as well as some pulled pork sliders and Babs' potato salad. I'm looking forward to what other goodies folks will bring. Well, the single flight students usually just bring beer, but that's okay, too. As old fashioned as it sounds, I kind of have to rely on the wives to actually bring any edible goods.

Night Out (Head Pounding) Success

We accomplished something big this weekend: Erik and I finally got a babysitter for a night out. It only took us, uhhh, 9 months...? Ugh, am I really that much of a momma bear? Lame.

Actually, Landon's been watched by family and friends for bits here and there, so I should clarify this is the first time I've paid an "outsider" to watch over baby boy. I was comfy with it since Landon was already asleep and rarely wakes up, so basically this young lady (a local college student I found on www.sittercity.com) made some easy money watching our cable for a few hours and checking the monitor once in a while.

Erik and I had a great time at the O Club on base with friends, but paid for it dearly the next day when Landon woke up at his normal 6:30a rooster call. Thankfully Erik's hangover was delayed by a few hours so he took first duty and then we tag teamed after I had some Whataburger and a Coke (a tried and true hangover cure!). Landon seemed to catch on to the quiet vibe and was actually a good little dude for us that day. Thank you, baby!!!

If we get a babysitter again anytime in the near future, it will be for just a couple drinks and a movie next time. I think my annual hangover quota has been met. And I don't think I like Shiner Bock anymore.

Recipe Try Out: Hungry Girl Brownie Muffins

I love the simplicity of this recipe as it requires only two ingredients: A box of devil's food cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree. This comes from the good ol' Hungry Girl site. I want to like more of her recipes, but admittedly the portion sizes are pretty small for my liking. [Yep, I do understand the concept of lower calorie intake, but since when does two english muffin size pizzas constitute a full serving? Puh-lease, child. Mama's got to eat, yo!]

Anyhoodles, this recipe has normal people portion sizes.


Mix the boxed cake mix with the can of the pumpkin puree (no other ingredients) and bake for 20 or so minutes at 400 degrees. Makes 12 regular muffins or 36 mini muffins.

The muffin surprisingly only has 180 calories - or *cough* more like 200 if you sprinkle *cough* mini choco chips on top - but we haven't exactly been eating the whole muffin. The inside of some of the them were a little too squishy/underbaked ... that is why the muffins towards the back of the photo are beheaded. We have primarily been enjoying the tops of the muffins. Who doesn't love a muffin top? Of the edible variety, that is.

I may try these again down the road, but they didn't knock our socks off. I give the recipe props for not tasting low fat, though - they really did taste like brownie muffins! I think I would try making them in mini muffin pans next time.

Landon Visits the Family

A couple weeks ago, Landon and I flew up north to visit the family while Erik was away on a detachment for a while. We had a great time and I'm really really glad we could do it since Landon could reconnect with everyone. The verdict: If you Skype with Landon, he's much more friendly when meeting you in person! He was chipper with all the Skype buddies, but needed some warmin' up with his photo friends.

Below is a video montage of the visit!



Hopefully we get to see everyone again soon enough around Christmas time!

9 Months

We've been trying to photograph Landon in a consistent position for his monthly photos, but it is becoming so very difficult with a little guy who likes to move and groove so much. So here's what we got this month:


At his 9 month check up, Landon came in at 30 inches; in a line up of a 100 babies, he'd be taller than 99 of them. His weight has finally come in to a normal range, as well - not something I was terribly concerned about, but admittedly nice to hear. His lack of chunkage, folds and rolls has been contributing to his crazy advances in motor skills. I, personally, would not have objected if he wanted to wait a few more weeks since running after him is getting real old real fast. I even break a sweat trying to get this kid into a pair of shorts for the day. My dear little hyper man is so very sweet at times, though, so it all evens out.

Current Likes
- Using the push walker to maximize pace and coverage across the house
- Tutu teddy bear and Ryan the mini rhinoceros
- Noshing on turkey and chicken pieces
- Other kiddies and babies

Current Dislikes
- Having diaper changed ("I can still keep playing with a load in my pants...what's the big deal?!")
- Getting out of the bath ("Oh no, they're going to put me to bed soon! Maybe if I wiggle uncontrollably and flail my arms enough, they'll reconsider. No? More wiggling!!!")