the joys of a boy

Maybe if I'd had a brother, I would have been more prepared for a boy. Grant does things all of the time that both make me shake my head and laugh at the same time. Lately he has been reminding me in a hundred different ways that he is all boy. Case in point:

1) the other day he came home from Mother's Day Out with some unusually baggy pants. Turned out he had no less than 42 small rocks in his pocket. I mean, really? 42?

2) last week he managed to roll down his car window while we were out driving. he then proceeded to try to lean his head out and announce proudly, "I spit Mommy!"

3) he already has a swiss army knife. not really, don't freak out. but, he uses his beloved blanket as the equivalent of one - it has a 100 different purposes. he uses it to blow his nose, he feeds it, he uses it to wipe up spilled milk, the other day he used it to wipe away the blood on his lip after he fell, he cleans the dog with it, etc. etc. so gross. it gets a 'bath' several times a week but its still plain disgusting.

This past week it was finally warm enough, so I turned on the hose in front of our house and let him make a mud pit. Just like a boy, he was in seventh heaven. He tormented Norman by spraying him and laughed and laughed for at least an hour.

Recipe That's a Keeper

My mom always made the most amazing brisket, but lately I have had one failed attempt after another (even religiously following her recipe, which is just maddening). Then, Jessica shared this recipe with me and it is fabulous. So good and easy. And I love that's not bbq - its something just a little different. I made a small one for a friend this week and plan on making one for our family tomorrow. I always love to share things when I find something I love, so here's the recipe:

Sweet and Sour Brisket
1/2 cup red wine
1 can low-sodium beef broth
3/4 cup chili sauce, such as heinz, usually found near the ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 ts. dried thyme
1 bay leaf

1 brisket (about 5 lbs)
kosher salt and pepper
2 Tb oil
4 medium yellow onions

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine the first ingredients in a medium bowl to make the sweet and sour sauce and set aside. Season the brisket with kosher salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tb oil in a 6-quart pot or dutch oven over med-high heat. When oil is hot, add brisket and cook until brown on both sides (about 4 minutes each). Transfer to a plate. Add the other 1 Tb of oil and add the sliced onions, stirring until they caramelize, about 5 minutes. Place the brisket on top of the onions and cover with the sauce. Cover the pot, place in oven and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, scrape off excess fat and cut against the grain into 1/4 inch slices. Return the slices to the pot, overlapping them. Spoon sauce on top, cover, and bake again, for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until fork tender. For best flavor, let the brisket cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, heat it up in the oven, covered, about 30 minutes at 350F.

You can freeze this, just refrigerate a day or two before freezing. Then, let it thaw completely before reheating.

Enjoy!!

Why I Love Mondays

Brad takes off Saturdays (in theory, of course) and Mondays. Typically he works on his doctorate coursework, reading and writing, but we always try to spend at least part of the day doing something fun as a family. It's actually a great day to go out and do things because everyone else is back at work and whether we go out to breakfast or to the zoo or the park, its usually just us and a few other people. Today we decided to check out the airport park. This is approx. 2 miles from our house. Do I wish I had decided to check it out sooner ? Yes! I can't believe I've had this resource sitting in my backyard this entire time. It had a covered playground area, a swim area, covered picnic tables - Grant loved it (Norman did too - good thing there were no other children around for him to scare) and I can already tell we are going to be there a lot this summer! Waco people really should have told me about this before....

Starting a Blog: Third Time is a Charm

There are several reasons I have started to create a blog over the past couple of years and have abandoned the effort:

1. Having been a sociology major I tend to approach social media as a curious observer - too busy contemplating the development of a new social theory to examine and explain its phenomenon rather than to actually participate in it.

2. I haven't been able to reconcile my thought that blogs are too personal, too revealing, perhaps even too self-indulgent with my thought that they are also really brilliant ways to record memories and share information.

3. I've just been too busy chasing around a boy who is the very definition of a boy.

However, now that I have been home with Grant for a year, #3 has gotten easier to manage and I am just putting #2 to rest because the truth is, I have the worst memory of anyone I know, I am not getting any younger, and this is the 21st century's way of journaling. I have a small book shelf full of journals and diaries stretching from my high school to college years. So this can just be me, getting modern, right?

I am not sure all of the things that will fill my posts - lots of stories about Grant to be sure, and the rest will be a surprise to probably even me.