Yellowstone

Some photos from the 2nd annual Frandsen family October Yellowstone trip.

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

Spooky face in the mudpot

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

From Yellowstone 2010

Loving the Warm Fall

We had no summer here, basically. It was cold and rainy and icky for a lot of the time. Now, we are having a super-warm summer. So we've finally been able to do this:

From Darby Canyon September 2010

You can't predict our weather. This was Yellowstone, first week in October last year:

From yellowstone

And, this year (note the t-shirts):

From Yellowstone 2010

When I'm overwhelmed at work

Julia at Working Mommy Wednesday asked two questions: What do you do when work overwhelms you, and little things I love.
I'm happy to say that I have a job that doesn't overwhelm me too often. I went from a job with constant, tight, hard deadlines to one with deadlines with much more warning. It was one of the best work-life choices I could have made.

But, when I haven't had enough sleep, things feel awfully overwhelming. So, I close my office door, lay down on the floor and stretch my arms as far as I can. Then I lay there for 5 minutes. Ahhh....

Here are two of the little things I love:

The boy who runs everywhere:

From Darby Canyon September 2010

And the girl who takes her princess purse hiking.

From Yellowstone 2010

It takes a village

I had an epiphany recently as I was dropping my kids off at daycare.

First, I dropped off Anne Marie. We walked in the door, I helped her out of her coat, and she ran over to the area with the play kitchen. I waved goodbye, she waved goodbye and smiled.

Then Thomas and I went down to his room. As I was putting him down, his little legs were going a mile a minute. As soon as he hit the floor, he was off. He smiled, ran around the table three or four times like he always does, then chose a chair to sit in next to his friends, who were waiting for the teacher to serve breakfast. I waved and said goodbye, but I'm not sure he even noticed. Another little boy was being dropped off as well, and his dad struggled as he set him down and the little guy put his head on the floor and cried.

I feel incredibly lucky to have kids who feel comfortable in different places, but I feel even more lucky that my children have many different people who they trust and love.

It really does take a village to raise a child. No one replaces a mother and a father, but my kids are lucky enough to learn from their grandparents, their caregivers, their uncles and aunts and a myriad of other people who have already influenced their lives. We are really blessed.

Cheese Ravioli with Three Pepper Topping

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com, and I thought I would share. On the pepper front, mine isn't usually three peppers. I usually just use whatever peppers I have. It's less pretty, but it's cheaper.


1 pound frozen or refrigerated cheese ravioli
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cups chicken broth, divided
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Cook cheese ravioli according to package instructions. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bell peppers until tender. Add one cup of the broth, season with pepper flakes, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in remaining broth, and cook until most of broth has evaporated. Spoon pepper mixture over ravioli.