Bonjour! Supremes De Volaille A Blanc.......

....was on the menu tonight. So delicious. Simply put, we had chicken breasts with cream. Supreme means the boneless breast. I was supposed to dismember the chicken myself and discover the two little beautiful breasts on my own but I do have a life and Julia, when she did make this, did not have kids with soccer games and tennis matches! If I had pulled the breasts myself and left the little wings attached, my dinner would have been called cotelette. So, after a trip to the store to purchase my red Fontignac cast iron covered pot, I read the recipe like 5 times. When the time came, I wanted to be ready and actually look like I knew what I was doing. Turns out, I still had to keep peeking at the book for every step, which I could tell made my family a little skeptical. Austin wants to know why I feel the need to cook French food, other than fries, and hopes I am going through a phase. Anyways, the dinner was perfect and Megan and Reed loved it, even Austin liked it, I think. Though he would never admit it and when asked, said he didn't. lol The best part of the dish was the sauce that used port, broth and whipping cream! My new pot cooked the 3 huge breasts in 9 minutes! Crazy. I thought for sure they would be under done but I followed what Julia said exactly and they were perfect. Wow! No wonder the pot was so expensive, it's amazingly fast. Love the French. This, like the Bifteck Haches, was a keeper and I thought I would keep plugging away at these recipes on Mondays. Sorry Austin. I'm already laughing at the thought of next Monday, when he walks through the door from school and moans when I greet him again with, Bon Appetit!

Off to the Seahawks!

Austin wore my jersey to the game today! He brought Beau and Colin Hungate. I have a match so I can't go. Bummer because it is a beautiful day and it is going to rain soon. Oh well, they will have so much fun.

Foggy Friday Headmaster picnic day!

A perfect morning! Foggy and beautiful. Hank got to see his first pumpkin and loves to eat all the fall leaves or at least drag all the neighbor's fall leaves and sticks into our yard. Tonight is CWA's Headmaster Picnic that includes a football game. Megan and her soccer team got all dressed in green for it. Will be really fun. Austin is looking for it for his first time as a freshman!

Hank and Duck

Hank loves to play with one of his favorite toys, Mr. Duck. He will not let me get too close, if I do, he picks it up and runs off with him!

Megan's College trip back East.

These are some of the beautiful colleges Megan and Reed went to. They visited Franklin and Marshall in Penn. and Bucknell. They went to Hamilton and Colgate in up state New York. They went to Trinity and Conn. College in Conn. Her favorites and the three she will apply to are Trinity, Hamilton and Conn. College. They had a great time and drove over 980 miles back there. The weather was gorgeous and so were the schools! These pictures are in random order as I am still getting to understand this blog thing, but you get the idea. Just an fyi, I am still rooting for a CA. college so she will be closer and easier to visit.

A weekend for two.

Ok, so here's the thing, I had a great time hanging out with Austin this weekend. It was just the two of us and at first I thought I was going to go crazy with boredom, but that was just because he was sick in bed. When he started feeling better, it was fun. We totally jive, we are on the same wave and we actually like each other! How's that for a description? We ate, we laughed we watched tv and we hung with Hank. He did homework, I read cooking books. He walked Hank, I did dishes. He ate Subway, I had Cup of Noodles. Easy! A little Jay Leno to end the day on a nice note and off to bed we went. If someone had told me when I held my babies for the first time that I was actually holding and meeting my new best friend, I would have laughed. My kids are the best. I know every mother's kids are, but mine really are. They are my friends and probably my best friends, next to my hubby. This realization is most likely the reason for my ever growing worrisome nature. Now that they are older, they are dearer and most permanently a part of my heart. I need all three of them in my life and pray that they will be forever. So, from my previous post where I said I was bored, I'm not. I'm happy. It was a great relaxing weekend with Austin, my best buddy.

A taste of my future...

...is what these past few days have been like for me. Boring. Lauren is back in Salzburg from her Germany weekend at Octoberfest. Reed and Megan have been covering much of the East coast terrain looking at colleges. They have been through New York, Mass., Penn., and Conn. They looked at Franklin Marshall, Hamilton, Bucknell and Colgate. Tomorrow is Trinity and last will be Conn. College. They are having fun and I love that they get this time together. I am still on the fence about her going that far away next year though. It is so gorgeous over there, I wish I could've gone too. But someone needed to be here with my two boys, Austin and Hank. Austin however needs me less than Hank and that is what got me thinking about next year. Currently Austin is roaming the neighborhood with his brat pack and has been gone for hours. Hank however, has to stay home with me so, it's just Hank and me. We wash dishes, do laundry, watch the cooking channel, blog, get the mail, work on new tricks and just basically hang out. He is getting great at sit and down. Still working on letting me go down the stairs first and sleeping in past 6 and not stealing my slippers and underwear out of my closet. Hank and Moose had a play date today and it was really productive. They wrestled, swam in the lake, swam in the pool, and then Moose taught Hank how to get apples by our tree take them down to the grass and eat them! Then they shared their apples. Wow! What a day. lol So.. apparently I am going to have to get a hobby next year when Megan goes away to college (boo hoo) because I can only take so much Hank time, but don't like too much down time. Maybe I should have had more kids. Hmm. Just kidding!

$155 is the price for a moms piece of mind.

Lauren got her care package today! I was so glad and relieved to hear that the cozy white socks were still filled with the Tamiflu. Yippee! Customs was finally on my side or maybe I'm just that clever with the sock trick. Whatever. It was worth the $155 to send it to her. Sounds funny I know, but with her travels within the next few months to Greece, Italy and Spain it gives me piece of mind to know if she were to get sick in those places, she can start the antibiotics and not worry if those hospitals have any for her. I remember the last spring swine out break and the shortage of drugs. So, I feel better. Not that I don't worry about everything else she does over there, at least I got that covered. I can't wait to hear all about her Munich trip (go German), she leaves tomorrow and next week it's off to Vienna. Wow! My Fall has started off so different, as I find myself living vicariously through her experiences in Europe. Soon I will have my own, but right now that seems a long way off and I have to keep myself busy with getting Megan ready with college stuff and encouraging Austin with his tennis and high school. Not to mention, my new found quest for French cooking and of course, finding time for my hubby! Whew.

Austin's first home match!

Austin playing first doubles match at home. Played #1 with Chris Wong. 6-0 6-1

Austin relaxing with the team after the win. So fun.

Oh Hank...too cute!

I caught Hank dead heading my flowers for me again!

My first French dinner

Bifteck Hache A La Lyonnaise with Haricots Verts a la Maitre d Hotel!

That was the dish I made our family tonight courtesy of Julia Child. Simply put, it was Hamburgers with onions and herbs served with Buttered Green Beans with Lemon Juice and Parsley. Ok , I know that sound so easy and you are thinking ...please, is that a joke? I make that all the time. Point is... you don't make it all the time. I love cooking and that there dish is not that easy. There are a lot of steps that are really bizzare but totally necessary. For instance, after you boil your beans and drain be sure to toss them like a chef in a hot scorching pan to dry up all the moisture. Then add all the butter( 1/2 teaspoons at a time) trading off with lemon squeezes. When you are done you can add the fresh parsley. The meat, well, that is tricky. Aside from the special ingredients, coat your patties with flour and use an extra lean beef because it's better to ADD the yummy fat (butter) than to have it already in there! After your amazing patties are done, reduce the juices down with stock and pour over the patties. They will have a crispy outer coating and a perfect medium rare center. Ok, you will smile after your first bite! Totally worth the effort and if you do it enough, this French thing I mean, it will become routine I am told and you will be able to transfer these skills of yours to lots of other dishes! Even though I was sweating at the table when I first sat down, I knew that the effort was worth the it. It was fantastic. Even the beans and their secret preparation, was well worth it. Im hoping to becoming an addict to French cooking and yes, it was the movie (Julie and Julia) that inspired me. Apparently, you have to have the time to read the recipes , a minimal budget, and no concern for your waistline. Here's the deal, I can make the time, will find the budget and will ask my husband if he would rather have my waistline or a fabulous cook for a wife. I'm guessing the latter. Oh, and just so we are clear, I always was ok in the kitchen before I found Julia, I just never knew the French way was so amazing!

Hank lost his first tooth!

Today was the Seahawks opening game against the Rams. We all went and we won 28-0. Super fun and an 84 degree day. Megan and I bought blue home jerseys! I have #89 Carlson. Megan has #22 Jones. Notre Dame dudes! Mine got 2 touchdowns and her guy got one! It looked to be sold out and the half time show was actually good. A band from the UK. Anyways....we were lucky to get the Ehlers to watch Hank while we were at the game, cause again, we forgot to think about what to do with him! So sad we are not used to finding dog sitters by now. Hank had a ball playing with their Molly for the whole time. Apparently they had a great day together and played constantly. Missy had a candle lit in the kitchen when we got back cause the sweaty dog smell was a little over the top. lol They said he was great but that they did decide against ever getting another puppy. For some reason Hank is a dose of puppy birth control. We gave them a great bottle of wine and thanked them a million. Then we got home and saw (Austin saw) that Hank was missing a tooth! A big tooth! So funny. It probably got knocked out somewhere in their kitchen or hopefully outside. Time to start losing the baby teeth. A big day for the Hankster. And to think we missed it for a day at the Seahawks!

Swine Smuggle

So, here's the deal. While Lauren decides to start her travels to Europe, the Swine Flu continues its travels all across the world. Perfect. Who would have thought in my lifetime of medical advancements and over the top vaccines, I would have to worry and follow the trail of a pig swine flu? Seriously? Not something on the normal list of a mom's worries when her daughter travels through Europe and her other 2 are on sports teams (germ camps). So when Lauren called this morning to talk and lightly mentioned her vomiting the night before, I panicked! However, after hearing she consumed a pre cooked hard boiled egg in a Salzburg market, I relaxed a bit. Not my first choice for a food item. It is hard to make wise choices in a country known for its mystery meats. So I decided to send her a care package early with the Tamiflu (antibiotics for Swine) along with other goodies. Turns out that any medicine/drugs will most likely be confiscated at customs. I should have given it to her when she left. I wanted her to have the drug in case she got the Swine when she was on her tours throughout Europe a little later in the month. So I took the caps out of the box and stuffed them inside a pair of thick soft socks. Then I loaded a bunch more fun things in to distract. Hopefully she will get them. I feel like such a drug smuggler! lol I was at Kinkos forever filling out all the forms. $155 later it is on its way to Austia. Fex Ex is expensive. So, I hope she likes the goods and remembers to hide and save the Tamiflu for emergency only. The pills are $10 each! Boy.....what we do to help our kids stay healthy! Hope it passes customs. And if it doesn't, she will still get a cozy pair of socks!

Bonjour!

Here it is. A new beginning. Bon Appetit!

CWA wins first game against Cascade Christian 4-0

Lindsey Evans came to the first game as an alumni (she leaves in a week to Santa Clara). So nice of her to make the sign for Megan. Hard to believe one year ago she was playing on the team. Time flies.

An average Fall day!

#11

Megan before her first varsity soccer game of the season!

So excited to go to Megan's game today. The team is very different this year and she is playing a new position, a defender! She is already worried about all the headers that are expected and I think mostly afraid of some possible brain damage that would occur before SAT's in a month. lol We will be bringing Hank with us which will be an experience in itself. He just got his rabies shot today after tangling himself and my pointer finger, within the leashes wrapped around us. Evidently, it was just too much for Hank to sit in a waiting room and simply watch the dogs trickling in. He wanted to play and it was torture for him not to, so he and his 43 lbs. lunged and melded into another big brown dog, twirling and jumping, and before we (the old lady and me) knew it, we were all in a huge tangle with my finger wedged in the middle. Fun. Ouch. With watery eyes and an urge to "accidently" strangle my Hank to death, I was able to pull them apart, apologize and yank Hank (the crank) to my other side on the other side of the room with my finger throbbing and Hanks yelping practically killing my ears! Think I will bring Reed along next time we go to the vet. What an experience.

Austin had a great first high school tennis match yesterday. He played #1 singles and played a big tall guy that we think was a senior. They were neck and neck at 4 all in the first set, but then Austin lost 4-6. Second set were a lot of fantastic rallies but Austin lost 1-6. That being said the score did not reflect the playing level and we were very proud of Austin. He was great. Still can not believe he is as good as he is. He is so fun to watch. A very smart / cute player! I am so proud that he played #1 as just a Freshman. How awesome is that? Looking forward to the rest of the season.

Proud Mama, I am.

What I am most proud of right now!

Megan is co- Captain of her varsity soccer team.

Austin made Varsity tennis as a Freshman and will play #1 Singles in the first match against Fife.

Lauren is discovering her independence (and German) in Europe! And loving it!

Reed is super Dad after driving his oldest daughter down the WEST coast to school and flying his youngest daughter to the EAST coast to look at college's.

Hank is consistently ringing his bell to go outside and is learning better and better each day that biting us is not the way to profess his love for us!

I love my family.

Non eventful Labor Day weekend

Halloween already? I went to Rite Aid today to get some things and the aisle is ready for Halloween. are you kidding? Last night Austin went to the first home Husky game this year and got home at 2 am. Today was stormy all day so we ended up eating dinner at our friend's, the Murray's, inside during the thunder and lightning show. Initially, we were to eat out on a table on the lawn near the lake. Guess this all means Fall is here and the holiday's are coming. Wierd. I remember how fast these months always go. Halloween, T-giving then Christmas and New Years! No real break. Then it is forever till Spring. Crazy! So... I guess what I am saying is I know time will fly till we all go to Paris and start our family trip with Lauren. She will be an avid traveler by then and will show us all the ropes. I am so thrilled she is there now, not missing a thing, and having the experience of a life time. Something I never did at her age that's for sure. Just hope she doesn't fall in love with some European somewhere over there cause then we would have to do some house hunting for sure. Well, not a lot to say about our boring uneventful Labor day weekend. Looking forward to Austin's first tennis match Wednesday and Megan's first soccer game Thursday! Congrats to her for getting Varsity Soccer co-captain. Very cool. Yippee!

Austin and Hank before school.

Austin likes to spend quality snuggle time with Hank in the mornings before school and this is is the only time Hank is allowed up on the couch. But soon he won't fit anyways. They are so cute together. Hank just loves his big brother!

Dear Lauren......

I miss you!

Safe in Salzburg, Austria!

Lauren is now in Salzburg, Austria!

I thought this day would never come. All the planning and discussing and now she is there and now there is nothing for us here at home to do but sit back and wait to hear from her. This first day is the hardest in that I do not know what type of communicating we will find the easiest. Because we have never done this I find myself ill at ease jumping from my land phone to my cell phone to the computer and then to calling Reed to see if he has heard anything. I know he is trying to work, but I can't help checking because he and Lauren have blackberry phones and they are the only ones who can do blackberry messaging. Crazy. I am the mom and find myself in second place to get all the good stuff from my daughter. It is so hard I will probably have to go trade in my phone and get a blackberry too. I even keep looking at her blog and am anxiously waiting for her first entry. This is going to be so tough till we get a system that works for all of us. She is 9 hours ahead and is now sleeping I'm sure. (I hope). I miss her like crazy mostly because I know I have lost control over our communicating. The balls in her court. Oh my. I am so excited for her and only know she is safe, happy and exhausted. I can't wait to hear all the fun things she does and all the stories she will have. What a lucky girl....that Lauren of mine.

Doe, a

dear my daughter is.

Ray a drop of golden sun.

Me, her mom, who sent her off. Fa a long long way she is. So, I know she's happy there. La a note to follow so. Te, will be replaced with beer. That will bring us back to doe doe doe.

Wow, am I bored or what?! lol

First day of senior year. First day of high school!

How cute are they?
Well summer is officially over. I woke this morning to, not the sound of birds out my window, but the stinky smell of a skunk! Good morning. That was all I needed to launch out of bed and get the Swedish Pancakes going. Big day. They both came down the stairs so cute and ready to go. It is to be a perfectly sunny day. Austin admitted last night that he was nervous. Megan is excited and I am basically just nostalgic and sad. Why? I feel too young to be going through all these things that to me, are just what old people go through and deal with better. So, I guess I am old. There.

While these two are starting their big day's I have Lauren on her way to LAX to catch her 3 o'clock to Frankfurt and then on to Austria! Wow! She will be arriving there tomorrow morning and I am so excited for her. I can't wait to talk to her hopefully when she first gets there. Truth is I will only be banking on conversations with her for the next, almost 4 months, and the next time we see each other I will be hugging her and wishing her a Merry Christmas! Omg. She is amazing and so deserving of what is ahead of her. Yippee!

I will be spending this landmark day driving our boat, thanks Reed, (by myself! ) with 3 girl friends, a delicious lunch, good tunes and some sorta drink to be determined. Good thing Megan is bringing home Austin from school and not till 6. Ribs for dinner. Whew! We all decided we needed to celebrate our kids accomplishments, the last remaining rain free day, our old age lol, and our break that begins today! Let the year begin!........