Speed Bump

We took Roxie to get a much needed bath last weekend. She was a very good sport and when she wasn't shaking water all over the room, she was sitting happily at the center of attention. Charlie decided that his friend Puppy (also known as Doggy) needed a bath, too. After their bath, both Roxie and Puppy needed to be dried off. Charlie might have a future in dog grooming. I'm not sure who had more fun - Roxie, Puppy, or Charlie! This sweet dog is having a birthday next week. She will be 10 years old on the 4th of July - a big birthday! While Ryan and Charlie took care of the dogs, Izzy and I hung out in the pet store. We had to test out every single toy that squeaked. Ha! Not sure what I said or did to get this look...but if that isn't her brother's serious face, then I don't know my left from my right. I can't believe next week is the 4th of July - mid summer! How is that possible? It's one of my favori...

I haven't posted a recipe here in a long time, and I was completely inspired by these fresh, local peaches and blackberries. A crisp, or crumble, is one of my favorite desserts - easy to make, always delicious. You cannot mess them up - all you need is flavorful fruit to make them turn out great. I like to use peaches and berries in the summer, apples or pears in the fall. My grandmother Helen always made the most delicious apple crisp, so I'm partial to the version of hers that I remember. These are local peaches and blackberries through our CSA, Good Natured Family Farms . The first week we had the peaches from our CSA , we ate them so fast that I never actually used them in a recipe. We had some friends over for dinner during the week and a crisp made the perfect, quick and easy dessert as I already had all the ingredients on hand. One of these days I'll have to attempt a pie. Or maybe not. The easy, somewhat messy looking crisp seems to win...

Welcome to Little Localvores - a weekly series on our family's first experience with a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Every Tuesday all summer long we will receive a supply of fresh produce and local foods through the Good Natured Family Farms CSA. I'll chronicle my attempts to get my toddlers (3 years and 15 months) to eat fresh and local, healthy foods. Localvore: someone who prefers to eat locally grown/produced food. Our weekly CSA is all volunteer run so everyone has to help out with the delivery and pick up a couple times during the summer. In only the 4th week of this new CSA, I was impressed with how well our student leaders have the system down. 170 CSA member bags means a lot of items to count and organize. These pallets (above) held about 6 bags of produce each  - and they were just big enough and heavy enough to be awkward to move around. We moved all the items off the truck and into a wide open room. We had about 5 pe...

**You can improve your health one step at a time. Start here, start now. ** My best workout of the week involved the whole family and a really small soccer ball. 

Photo credit: The Atlantic Happy Friday and all that jazz, I have work and motherhood on my mind today (every day!). There is a new story buzzing around the blogosphere and various websites with the catchy title: "Why women still can't have it all." I know, not again, right? (yes, Ryan, I know what you're thinking). But this is different and I'll tell you why. Anne-Marie Slaughter is not your typical working mom. In fact, she is in a very privileged position in leaving her dream job (the first woman to be Director of Policy Planning in the State Department, her boss is none other than Hillary Clinton) for her fall back job as a tenured Professor at Princeton (much of the flack she is already receiving has to do with her plum positions at the top of the career ladder, which I'm not sure is fair - isn't she allowed to whine about being a working mom like the rest of us?). Anyway, she quit her dream job at the State Department after only two years, sa...

Welcome to Little Localvores - a weekly series on our family's first experience with a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Every Tuesday all summer long we will receive a supply of fresh produce and local foods through the Good Natured Family Farms CSA. I'll chronicle my attempts to get my toddlers (3 years and 15 months) to eat fresh and local, healthy foods. Localvore: someone who prefers to eat locally grown/produced food.

**You can improve your health one step at a time. Start here, start now.** Did you stay active this weekend? Move a little more? Hopefully you got in your daily exercise and also stayed active enough around the house to reach 10,000 steps per day - finally you get credit for mowing the lawn and cleaning the floors! Add 'em up! We're planning to purchase a couple pedometers and start tracking our daily steps. If you feel up to a little healthy competition, get yourself a pedometer and we can have some fun. I've rounded up a few health articles to start off the week: Finding the sweet spot  for exercise. In some cases, less is more. Here's an update on barefoot running  for those that might be interested. I am still not used to my Merrell's , but starting to like them more. Ever wonder how many daily steps kids need to stay healthy? I found this article on sugar very interesting. While we certainly consume way too much sugar, making it th...

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend. This week was all about catching up after our trip which is never much fun. We have a party with friends, a modern homes tour of KC and a birthday/Father's Day celebration on tap for the weekend. It will be busy.

  Happy Birthday to me! Turning 30 wasn't a big deal, it was anti-climactic. 29 was the big one for me. I looked back at my journal entries around my 29th birthday, and was quickly reminded of why I never re-read my journals. I sounded like an angst-ridden, love-lorn teenager with all my worries about finding 'the one' and waxing poetic about when I might find my true love. Feeling like so much of my life was still missing, I dreaded my birthday every year. What a difference a decade can make. 10 years ago I celebrated my 29th birthday in Florence, Italy. I had just signed a lease on a new apartment in St. Louis sight unseen. I had plans to get a dog once I returned to the states (can't believe Roxie is going to be 10 in July). I was on the verge of starting a new fellowship, with no idea of a faculty position anywhere in my head. I didn't yet know I would take a job in Kansas City and move back home. I didn't know I would finally meet 'the one...

**Hola! Buenas tardes...we're back from Spain! We had a fabulous trip and loved every minute (also missed our little ones every minute we were gone). I can't wait to post pictures from our trip, but for the moment I'm swamped with work and catching up around home. While I get to work downloading and organizing pictures, here is a post I put together awhile back but never used.** We went to a Birthday party for one of the girls in Charlie's class. The party had a Princess theme, complete with a real live Cinderella to tell stories.

Charlie and Haley decided to lounge on the deck at Grammy and Papa's house, complete with their bed pillows and covers. They had so much fun and I took so many pictures. I couldn't resist posting most of them.

We spent Memorial Day having a big, all ages family baseball game....at my brother's house. Check it out. It is about the coolest thing ever. And they have a new pony! More pictures coming soon...