Lilolu

Kitty Playdate

Looks who's having a kitty playdate today...this is Oscar and his uncle Jeremy (by adoption).  Jeremy is my mothers kitten - who is starting to not look like a kitten so much anymore.  

 

For some reason, they love to play in my den.  They do every time Jeremy is over.

I guess Oscar showed Jeremy the window with the best view.  Oscar, often watches the children play outside, from this spot.  I just love watching my kitten play. 

Morning Play

At about 9:00 am, the children headed out to play.  They were having a serious club meeting until I arrived with the camera.

Their meeting pauses for a quick picture and more play.

 

I have no idea what Wolfie is looking at.

So that's what he's looking at - Charlie, dangerously, walking on the edge of the pool.  I hope my husband tied the cover on tight. 
 

I call this photo "Broken Bubbles" because Henry couldn't get any bubbles out of this sad attempt of homemade bubbles.   

Here's, Bella, enjoying the Fall season very much!  "I'm totally there with you Baby Girl...SIGH..."

 

Here's, Oscar, the youngest in our family.  He's just 3 months old and not yet able to play outside, like my other two cats.  So, he jealously watches the kids play. Oscar, tries to sneak out and when he does, he's just amazed at what's out there.  I can't wait for him to see the snow.  It will blow his mind! 

Oh, How I Miss My iPhone

 

My husband thinks I tend to be a tech freak.  Hey, a girls aloud to love her tech gadgets - there's nothing wrong with that.  He's had a cell phone with Verizon for a very long time. We had a family plan and it was great until the iPhone came out.  I loved it so much, I broke off our family plan ties and switched to AT&T. Two single plans meant more money out of our pocket but for two wonderful years I enjoyed the iPhone very much.  

By the end of my AT&T contract we decided it would be a good idea for me to get back on the family plan with him.  So I did and now I have an enV Touch.  It's nice and all but I really miss my iPhone.  Now, there's a rumor floating around about the next generation iPhone having a full QWERTY keyboard.  If that's the case then I'm switching back to AT&T. 

Darn you Apple...why couldn't you team up with Verizon!

What kind of cell phone do you have and do you love it?

   

Penne Alla "Not-Ka"

A few weeks ago I started watching the Cook Yourself Thin show and decided to buy the cookbook. Turns out some of these recipes are pretty darn good.  The one my family really enjoys is called Penne Alla "Not-Ka"  It's quick and fresh.  I wanted to share the recipe with you and I hope you enjoy as much as we do.  

Serves 4
Calories per serving: 371 

2 teaspoons olive oil, plus extra for serving
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped red onion
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes in juice, pureed in a food processor
Pinch red pepper flakes
8 ounces penne
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons evaporated nonfat milk
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the penne. 

2. In a large saucepan, heat the 2 teaspoons oil with the garlic over low heat until the garlic begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt, cover, and cook until the onion is softened, about 2 more minutes. Add the tomato, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and simmer very gently 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and evaporated milk and simmer 1 more minute. 

3. Meanwhile, after the sauce has cooked 5 minutes, add the penne to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup pasta water. Add the drained penne to the saucepan and simmer until the penne is al dente, 1 to 2 minutes, adding a little of the pasta cooking water if the mixture is dry. Stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, along with the basil and black pepper. 

4. To serve, divide pasta among 4 serving bowls. Drizzle each serving with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. 

Recipe from the Cook Yourself Thin show and cookbook.

Have you tried any of the Cook Yourself Thin recipes?  Which one is your favorite?

Poor Lil' Fella

Last week, Wolfgang, was sick.  He had a fever for four days.  He usually handles illness well but this time it was rough for him.

 

Then, Oscar, my eleven week old kitten got very ill.  He had a fever, wouldn't eat or drink a thing and slept for days.  "Poor lil' fella", as my four year old would say.  I am happy to say they are both fine now.  

Since I was busy caring for Wolfgang and Oscar last week; my desk was being neglected. So, this is what it looks like when I'm just too busy to take care of it.

aahhh.....now that's much better...time to get back to work.

Quote of the Week

Like this wall decal, click on the picture to see more.

Little House on the Prairie

 Growing up I loved Little House on  the Prairie.  So when my children  started watching the show and  loving it too, I was thrilled.  We  always wanted to visit The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum but we live a  little south of the Adirondacks.  Needless to say. this would not be  an easy trip with three kids from 4  to 8.  So we did the next best thing.  We visited The Almanzo Wilder Homestead instead and had a blast!  For those of you who don't know, Laura Ingalls married Almanzo Wilder.  The farm he grew up on is in Burke, New York.

Bella and Henry very excited to finally arrive.  Burke, New York is right near the border to Quebec, Canada.  

Wolfie was excited too but is not about having his picture taken.

This was one of the barns.  The Wilder Family was very well off so they had a couple of barns and a huge carriage house.

This is my hubby and Wolfie trying to hide behind him.  These pictures were taken in the beginning of September.  I'm sure the Fall colors look amazing up there now.  If you love Little House on the Prairie I highly reccomend you visit The Almanzo Wilder Homestead.  There are no pictures of the inside of the house because picture taking was not aloud.  If you would like to see the inside of the Almanzo family home you can go to their website almanzowilderfarm.com .

Tell me about any of your visits to The Laura Ingalls Museum or The Almanzo Wilder Homestead.

Free Rice

How you can help end world hunger

FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program with two goals:

1. Provide education to everyone for free.

2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

You can help feed hungry people by answering knowledge questions.  I particularly enjoy the vocabulary game but there are many subjects to choose from.  FreeRice has a custom database containing questions at varying levels of difficulty. There are levels appropriate for beginners and levels that will challenge the most scholarly professors. 

It starts by giving you questions of increasing difficulty and then, based on how you do, assigns you an approximate starting level. When you get a question wrong, you go to an easier level. When you get three questions in a row right, you go to a harder level.  

So I'm asking all Lilolu readers to please go to FreeRice.com and play.  You have nothing to lose and knowledge to gain.  Play it with your kids and explain how their correct answers are feeding the world and their brain.  You may surprised with how interested they are.  

Tell me about a cause you are passionate about. 

Inspirational Quotes

TED ideas worth spreading

Recently, I came across a wonderful site called TED.  It is a small nonprofit - started in 1984 -  devoted to ideas Worth spreading.  Beginning as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design.  Since then its scope has become ever broader.  

I particularly enjoyed Dave Eggers talk on how and why he opened 826 Valencia in 1998, a free writing and tutoring lab for young people, which has since opened six more chapters across the United States. 

Please checkout the TED site.  I think you might be surprisingly inspired.  Enjoy!