I'm a little gassy, but I'm loving these anyway.

This amazing black bean recipe.

I got it off my new favorite vegetarian blog (even though I am not vegetarian). The blog author is a professional chef and all of her recipes are completely healthy and full of great veggies.

The first time I made this, I took a bite to be sure it was seasoned correctly, and the next thing I knew I had eaten half of the pan. I almost didn't have enough left for the rest of the family. The next time I made it I doubled it so I could eat as much as I wanted. This recipe is actually supposed to go over a wonderful rice recipe (made with tomatillo salsa, garlic, oregano, cumin, red onion, then at the end you fold in sour cream and cheese...amazing), then topped with guacamole and tomatoes. I made the entire dish a couple of weeks ago and we really loved it. But it was a bit labor-intensive for me. This time I just made the beans and topped it with guacamole and tomatoes and ate it with a spoon. The rest of the family had corn chips and cheese with it.

The recipe:

Vegetarian Black Beans

2+ Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cans black beans, drained

Heat oil in pan. Saute onion, red pepper, and salt for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cumin (and more oil if you need it) and saute for 3 additional minutes. Lower heat and add black beans. Add a couple of tablespoons of water, if necessary. Serve when beans are warmed throughout.

Pictures for no reason.

Lincoln with his new glasses as of today. I don't think he likes them. I had to force him to put them on.
Isaac.
Noelle today after ballet class.
Laura hanging out in her room.
My dinner, after a clumsy moment.

My birthday.

The downside: Steve wanted to take me to lunch. We tried a couple of places (and I'm limited by the gluten-free thing), but they were both closed for lunch on Monday. I was bummed because I was hungry.

My favorite moment of the day was when we were driving around looking for a place to eat. Steve said, "How about sushi?" Noelle (from the backseat) groaned and said, "Again???"

Yeah. Again. We've taken here with us to get sushi once. She wasn't impressed with the food. Lucky for Noelle, the sushi place was also closed for lunch.

We stopped off at Pioneer Co-op and I purchased this microwaveable meal instead. Sumptuous. Also, it has 50% of your daily allowance of vitamin A.
And this:

One of my birthday presents:

The frames. Our new house is still pretty empty. Empty walls. A few sparse pieces of old furniture from Target or Costco. I just wanted to put up some pictures of my kiddos to make it feel like home. To get this arrangement it took four days and a thousand nail holes and I think there were some tears, too, but I finally like it.

Oh yeah. This was definitely a bonus birthday gift.

I thought this only happened to boys.

Noelle begged me no less than eight times today to let her play the Wii, asking in her most syrupy sweet four-year-old voice, claiming she only wanted to play "a teeny, little bit" and "please???" It's very disturbing. Just watch the aggression on her face. Sorry it's a little blurry.

If you've ever wondered what Isaac would look like if he were a girl...

The first month at the new school, everyday I would ask Isaac if he had made any friends, and everyday he answered, "I don't need friends." With a little attitude...like he might be too good for friends or something along those lines.

Okay then. How to respond? If only I could locate the "parent manuel" which details exactly what to say or do specifically for this precise situation. But I seem to have misplaced it.

Last month he came home and said, "I made a friend." And he grinned a little shyly.

Ta da! Here she is. Alyssa. Isaac's same height. Glasses. Know-it-all, just like him.

Love it!

(Would you just look at that bedhead? Where is the poor neglected child's mother???)