Steve and Kelly Plus Two: February 2009

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bye-Bye House!

Well, we have exactly two nights left in our house in SC before the movers descend upon us and we take up residence in billeting on base. Let me take a moment to reflect on our time here in SC.....okay, moment over. While I'm not going to miss our location so much or the high operations tempo of this base (high ops tempo= Steve is never home), I will miss the people here and I like our house, so I will miss it too, but I'm sure we will be reminded of our house every so often as it becomes a thorn-in-our-side rental house. I am sad that this is the house we brought our first little baby home to and where he first crawled and walked--we will be leaving behind the physical place where he had all his firsts. I'm sure he'll do more fun, new things in our new place in Phoenix, so on to Phoenix we go. Our internet will be cut off shortly so this will be the last post for a while, check back the end of March for pics of our new place!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Rent-A-Fish

This is a first for us. We rented a fish this week. We decided a quick family trip was in order to get away from the packing and stress of reconstitution and the looming PCS, so we drove up to Asheville, NC for two nights to see the Biltmore Estate. When we checked into our hotel room, there were beta fish in bowls on the service counter, with signs advertising the fish for rent for $1 a night, the donations going to the local Autism charity. So, in the interest of charity and teaching Brian about fish, we rented our first fish. Maybe one day we will own instead. When I carried the fish and bowl into our room, Brian ran straight over to me, pointing at the fish and the following conversation ensued:

Brian (pointing at fish): Nummies!!!

Mommy: No, not nummies, this is a fish.

Brian: nummy!

Mommy: no, fish are not food.

Brian (signing "more" with his hands): num, num, num!

Mommy: the fish is a pet, not food.

Brian: does anyone have a harpoon and some tarter sauce?

Okay, so maybe I embellished the last line a little, but Brian really did think I brought him a snack. We were a little worried after that, so the fish we named "Cookie Monster" ended up on a high dresser and Brian was distracted by some cookies. He did blow kisses to the fish and say bye-bye every time we left the room, so by the end of the two nights, I think he understood the concept of a pet fish.

Waving to Cookie Monster

Kissing Cookie Monster

Sunday, February 8, 2009

The Zoo

After a long, cold week that included snow flurries one morning and some days when the temperature barely approached the high forties, cabin fever officially set in. When Saturday's forecast called for a balmy 67 degrees, plans were immediately set in motion for a trip to the zoo to let our own wild animal have some play time outside. Here are some pictures from our trip yesterday.

Daddy and Brian watching the Penguins swim

Daddy and Brian watching the monkeys

Three monkeys

Giraffe watching

Watching the turtle dig a hole

Brian blew kisses to the merkat

A bear bottom

Mommy was there too

Ooey, Gooey, Soupy Deliciousness

So it sounds completely disgusting, but Split Pea Soup is so delicious! It is somehow a family tradition for the Harris family and one meal that everyone in our family loves, although there is still the argument about which kind of cornbread is better with the soup (Dad's made-from-scratch brick-like cornbread--yuck--or Jiffy cornbread-mix-in-a-box--yum!). One thing is for sure though, Spilt Pea Soup is loved by all!!! The origins of the pea soup loving in my family dates back to the late 80s and 90s when the three young Harris daughters were forced* into camping with our parents every, single spring break in Yosemite (life was hard people) and then spending time each summer with our boat on Bass Lake (more suffering). One little light of hope during these awful trips was a stop along the way called Anderson's. This restaurant is famous for its, what else?, Split Pea Soup! And somehow my parents got their hands on the secret recipe and recreated the green slimey goodness at home. I now make the pea soup recipe for my family and even Brian will eat it, which is saying alot because as a rule, Brian does not eat vegetables. I think Steve likes it but it's hard to tell because he pretty much inhales anything set in front of him without complaint (unless it is a meatless dish and then I'm accused of trying to turn him vegan). So, anywoo, I thought I would share the recipe with everyone because it's sooooo good....

What you need (this is for a double recipe--provides two nights of soup and some to freeze for another night down the road)

2--16 oz bags of Split Peas (no need to split them yourselves!)

3-4 stalks of celery, chopped

3-4 carrots, chopped

2 onions, chopped

1/2 tsp ground thyme

1 pinch cayanne pepper

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

ham bone (optional) and chopped up ham pieces

Start the night before by rinsing the peas in the pot you will use to cook them in (I use an 8 quart stock pot). Rinse the peas with cool water, change out the water until it is clear (twice is usually enough). Leave the peas to soak overnight in cool, clean water). If you are using a ham bone, which is not really necessary, but adds some flavor to the soup, remove the peas from the pot and cook the ham bone in lots of water on low all day. Remove the ham bone and use the hammy water to cook the peas and veggies (you may need to add some water, there should be about 12-14 cups of water total). If you skip the ham bone, start the peas and other veggies cooking about 3 hours before meal time. Put the peas, 12-14 cups of water, the veggies, and spices in the pot and heat to boiling. Allow to boil for about 20 minutes and then just simmer the soup, stirring often for a few hours, until the peas and veggies are soft and the soup is thick. Add chopped ham pieces during the last hour. Remove the bay leaf and serve with saltine crackers. Cheese is good too.

Happea and Pea-Wee--Anderson's Pea Soup Mascots

"Even Brian likes it!!!"

Time to lick the bowl!

*Okay, so we pretended to hate these fun family camping trips as any normal preteen would do, there was alot of eye rolling, use of the word "lame," "are we there yet?" and "why do we have to come here every year?" but I'd do anything to camp in Yosemite once a year now and boat on Bass Lake on someone else's dime!!!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Hell Hath No Fury.....

.....like a two-year-old's tantrum. I discovered this morning that my son has never actually had a tantrum, until today, that is. What I previously thought were tantrums, were just little hissy fits, like a little angry kitten compared to the monstrous lion of a tantrum that took over my child this morning. It all started when my phone rang and the whining began. After the short, 30-second phone call was over, Brian launched into the angry-kitten-hissy-fit. I could tell he wanted me no where near him (mostly because he was screaming "no, no, NO!" when I tried to comfort him) so I wondered off into the next room to clean up his overturned wagon of blocks. Apparently that was the wrong move and sent Brian into a downward spiral of thrashing about on the floor, flailing, kicking, screaming, sobbing with all his might. I swear I saw his head spin around a few times. GEESH! It's not like I even asked him to help clean up--his maid service was doing the clean up for him. He hadn't touched the blocks in at least an hour and they were in no coherent pattern or design, so as far as I could tell, I wasn't ruining some grand creation. I must have been wrong because ten minutes later, he was still in the throngs of a tantrum. I had no idea what to do--was he hungry? thirsty? tired? Probably all three but he wouldn't take anything I offered to him or even let me hold him. Finally I moved him to our bed because he loves playing in the bed, but he immediately jumped down, ran into our bathroom and slammed the door in my face! As I was heading to the kitchen to pull out the yellow pages to look up "exorcist" services, a light went on in my head--I ran straight to his room and grabbed his favorite blue blankie ("bunky" around here) and dashed with bunky to the bathroom. After his minute alone in the bathroom, he had calmed down slightly (tears and snot were still flowing freely but his head had stopped spinning) and he grabbed bunky out of my hands to cuddle it quietly. I held my breath as we sat on the bathroom floor, hoping the worst was over. A few minutes later we were happily playing with Thomas the Train, no exorcism was required after all. I just hope he never does that in public!!

The recovering tantrum victim (or am I the victim?)

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The BESTEST Birthday Present Ever!

Brian here, I just wanted to tell you about my 2nd birthday yesterday. I got cupcakes and presents and Mommy sang Happy Birthday to me over and over again all day. In the afternoon, Mommy and I went to base and waited in a cold hanger for a long time, watched a big airplane land with all of our squadron friends, and then the best birthday present ever, got off the airplane, it was my Daddy!!! I was so surprised to see him but I knew exactly who he was and hugged him right away. I wanted him to hold me right away too. Every time he walked away to get one of his bags, I would point to him and tell Mommy that was my "Daddy." Finally he got all his bags (Daddy doesn't pack light) and we got to go home to have dinner and open presents and have cupcakes. I won't let Daddy out of my sight! He's fun! Here are some pictures of my birthday and Daddy's homecoming yesterday....