big band, pesto, & a '57 ford fairlane

friday night at the gibson's means pizza.

tonight it meant pesto pizza.

love pesto or not,

you must try this dish tomorrow night!!!

if you despise pesto, then just buy the basil leaves.

blend them up.

it's divine.

intoxicating.

like the pork loin.

i listed all of the ingredients for you above.

exact amounts as follows:

-courtesy of NieNie-

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

3 c. basil leaves, fresh

1/4 c. pine nuts

1/2 c. cheese
sea salt & pepper to taste

1 tsp. garlic, chopped
*i doubled the recipe for an extra thick pesto

*used whole wheat pizza dough (clink on "recipes" link for recipe)

*generous amounts of shredded mozzarella cheese on top

*added spinach the last 5 min. for pretty greens on top

grandma gigi brought apple pie.

we covered it in whipped cream.

we spent the entire night talking about the big band era,

listening to...

ella fitzgerald (sorry lilly allen, move over, ella is taking your place),

frank sinatra,

billie holiday

(gigi told me to play "I'll Be Seeing You" extra loud, billie's voice is just so beautiful),

louis armstrong (mmm, what is there not to love about that raspy flair),
annie ross,

etta davis,

& king pleasure.

i'm addicted to big band.

it has taken over my red lips revolution.

3 women, a pork loin, and a scruffy handsome man...

i can now die a happy woman.

grandma gigi in her "meeting frank sinatra" years...

can't read my words?

click on the picture to enlarge.

why did everyone knock so hard on the 1950's housewife??

ok, besides all of the negative stuff,

it looks pretty glamorous in this picture.

don't you think;-)

i'll take all of the positives of gigi's era.

& all the positives of my own.

it's the perfect mix for me.

big band on iTunes

homemade bread and pizza dough, using my kitchen aid

journaling on my blogspot

shopping on amazon.com

antique shops online

tea parties on facebook (let's be friends? click here)

thank you letters in the mail (nothing has changed)

front load washing machine

line drying your clothes in the summer

homemade ice cream, using my kitchen aid;) of course

vacuuming with my dyson

husband to sweep & mop for me

soap opera's in the form of grey's anatomy, the hills/city

good ol' fashioned reading, on a kindle? not yet...i love to smell the pages too much!

red lipstick, a true classic

it doesn't get better than that.

oh wait.

yes it does!

s.d.gib's officially on spring break!!!!!

want to sit by me?

dear dad,

i can

comb
my own hair now.
just thought you should know.

love,

the pork loin

p.s.

mom says she's making pesto, chicken, whole wheat pizza tonight.

want to sit by me?

oh, and goddesses,

mom's added two new songs to her

red lips reVOLution mix:

"Kiss" by Prince (fitting, don't you think?)

"Red Top" by King Pleasure

letters to the goddesses

dear blogging goddesses,
i am grateful tonight.
my heart is overflowing with it.
read my previous post tonight for extra information on my overflowing cup.
i've felt powerful this past week.
utterly exhausted, and overwhelmingly powerful.
as a mother.
a wife.
a friend.
an individual.
you may not agree, but god gave this to me.
like i said, grateful, i am.
i have this friend, fiauna.
she blogs.
her daughter is autistic.
anyone else afraid of that word?
me too.
so i asked her a question.

Q. (asked by me)
Fiauna, what do you think about autism and vaccines?

A. (answered by fiauna)
I feel that every parent needs to follow their gut when dealing with the needs of their children. While I have only read of one case of a child suffering adverse affects from vaccines that caused her mental retardation, among other things, I feel vaccines should be researched by parents before given to their children. I vaccinated my children blindly. The doctor said, "Do it," and I did. If I had researched the vaccines my daughter was given, I would now be more confident that they hadn't been the cause of my daughter's condition. In my gut, I don't think vaccines caused my daughter's condition. And I don't think there is anything I can do to "cure" her. Vaccines are a good thing. I personally don't think that vaccines cause autism. There might be a link between vaccines and autism, but from the research I've read, the child would already have the predisposition for autism, the vaccine just "turns it on". And if not for the vaccines, it would have been something else down the line.

But here is what I really think. I think that these children with autism and other various neurological conditions are choice spirits of Heavenly Father. I think they chose to come to earth like this. I feel that my home is a better place because we have a choice spirit living here. That doesn't mean that I don't cry myself to sleep at night, wondering what I did wrong. It just means that when the sunrises, I am grateful for the experience of raising my sweet angel.Thanks for letting me post this comment here. Maybe I'll write a blog post about it.
she wrote this post today.
she's amazing, isn't she?
i know.
i think so too.

loves to you and yours,
e

gracie girl

if you have not read about gracie yet, now is the time.
you'll need the entire box of tissues though.
my heart was broken, mended back together, and broken several times.
and i'm not even all the way down the page.
i was just complaining to my friends at book club tonight how challenging/exhausting my day had been.
i believe i said, "he's wanting me to carry and hold him all day."
i take it back.
every
last
word.
i'm trying to decide if i want to go into his room right now
to
pick
him
up
and
hold
him.
just hold him.
we were at primary children's hospital during this family's trial.
they even talked about possibly being able to move gracie to the 3rd floor.
we were on the 3rd floor.
the day we left the hospital was the day gracie returned to heaven.
this touches my heart.
gracie was born a few weeks after brennan.
and passed away two days before his 1st birthday.
i'm so grateful for my healthy baby boy.
part of me feels guilty for his health.
gratefully guilty.
can anyone else understand this?
i love you brennan.

reSOLution turned reVOLution

so my new year's reSOLution has turned into a reVOLution.
have you joined it yet?
don't know how?
click here.
my reVOLution has reached far beyond my lips, and others for that matter.
it's reached s.d.gib's lips, pork loin's cheeks....
and many more,
but in a different kinda way;-)
post a comment and let us know how my reVOLution is rEVOLVing in your life!
...
are you reading with us yet?
i'm on pg. 223
i can't stop thinking about may's character.
i read a special blessing this morning that i got years ago,
and i thought of may.
weird? MAYbe.
but still, i did.
there's still time for you to read with us if you haven't started yet.
the discussion will begin 2 weeks and 4 days from today!
so many life's lessons lie in the pages of "the secret life of bees."
i can't WAIT to hear your thoughts!
...
wait, i wasn't done with my reVOLution.
so i have this mix of music.
it's called "red lips revolution"
get it?
it's my music that i listen to when i'm cooking dinner.
when i'm feeding brennan lunch.
when i'm winding down from the day.
the tracks towards the front of the mix are more "dance dance"
and then they wind down to be more soothing.
like sinatra.
it doesn't get much better than sinatra.
i have a special place in my heart for him.
he thought my grandma was cute;-)
don't believe me?
read my interview with her, click here.
which reminds me, i miss you "meet & greet monday!"
so this mix,
the "red lips revolution" mix, as it's called in my iTunes.
i thought i'd share.
...
The Fear, Lily Allen (clean, edited)
Live Your Life, (feat. Rihanna) & T.I.
Womanizer,Britney Spears (pork loin's fav, yikes!)
Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It), Beyoncé (referred to as "all the single babies" in our home)
Just Dance, Lady GaGa
King Without a Crown, Matisyahu
Poker Face, Lady GaGa
I Could Say, Lily Allen (clean, edited)
A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes, Ilene Woods & Mice Chorus
When You Wish upon a Star, Linda Ronstadt
Someone to Watch Over Me, Frank Sinatra
The Way You Look Tonight, Frank Sinatra
Young At Heart, Frank Sinatra
The Way You Look Tonight, Frank Sinatra
Luck Be a Lady, Frank Sinatra
I've Got the World On a String, Frank Sinatra
Theme from New York, New York, Frank Sinatra
At Last, Etta Davis
...
can you pick the song i added after reading nie's post last week?
iTunes says i've listened to it 14 times, as of this morning;-)
...
other fav's of the mix today:
"I've Got the World on a String" by Frankie
"I Could Say" by Lily Allen (clean, edited)
"Young At Heart" by Frankie" (ooo, so romantic!)
...
after listening to "Luck Be a Lady" several times today,
I am convinced that Frank wrote it about my grandma.
Read the story, tell me what you think;-)
What am i talking about?
Go click on the link to read ALL about it!
above,
it's above all of this,
it says
"read my interview with her, click here"
go ahead,
scroll up.
now is good.
you can come back to this after.
...
oh, did you click on my links today?
please go back and click on my links today:-)
they are clever.
very clever;-)
if i do say so myself,
i did.
that's all.

loves to you and yours,
e

"hit me with your best shot, fire awaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!"

shoes purchased: last night, after 5pm
shoes arrived: this afternoon, before 7pm
shipping cost: $0
tax cost: $0
returns: $0
any other store i would want to buy shoes from: no
compliments of brooke and Queen Vee.
i can't wait for brennan to wear them.
buy from Zappos.
they are kickin'!
the end.
...
answers to goddess questions
1. Aunt Judi
Q.
Please tell me what Pork Loin is doing these days.
Pulling up and walking around furniture?
Combat crawling?
Standing alone?
Or just plain goofing off?
I'm not around to see the action, if there is any.
I love him just the same.
You tell him that.
Kisses to all. Aunt Judi.
A.
all of the above!!!!
he is crawling on his hands and knees more often than combat crawling now.
he pulls himself up onto everything and anything, including and most often ME!
he will hold onto my leg and walk around with me.
he pulls himself up in his crib, jumps up and down like a monkey, making cute little high pitched sounds.
he pushes his walker around, including anything that has wheels...well, and anything without wheels that will scoot as well.
he dances with his fingers/hands, and when he's standing up and music is on he will lift his arms up and bounce to dance.
every time we enter or leave a room he raises his hand up to say hello and goodbye.
i think i heard him say "duice" for "juice" yesterday. jess was with me and she confirmed it;-)
he is more clingy than ever!!!
he wants me to hold him a lot of the time.
i usually give in and reward myself with a kiss.
he gives hugs, so cute.
at his birthday we carried him around to each guest and he gave a hug to each person.

2. Brooke N.
Q.
Is he cruising along furniture or letting go of furniture when standing?
This will help me guess!
Those are my questions 4 u!
A.
He is cruising EVERYWHERE along furniture, walls, toys, etc.
He is letting go of his walker occasionally, but no other furniture when standing.
Come to think of it, he hasn't done that in a few weeks.
He just pushes his walker in what we like to call "baby sprint" mode, b/c the kid goes sooooo fast with it!

3. Jessie B.
Q.
Get my drift???
A.
yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
i most DEFINATELY do;-)

4. Fiauna
Q.
But adding chocolate to anything makes it more palatable, don't you think?
A.
yes ma'am!!!!!!
really, we should do research on this.
maybe it could be a tax write off?
...
you've got questions, i've got answers!!!
"hit me with your best shot! fire awaaaaaaay!!!!"
ooo, i think i need to play guitar hero now...;-)

"par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par"

i took this picture with my phone,
with the intent of emailing it to my dad.
he golfs.
i don't golf.
there's this movie we watch on thanksgiving.
it's a tradition.
"home for the holidays"
that's what it's called.
it's quirky, it's awkward, it's down right hilarious.
never seen it?
go get it for tonight.
it's gets funnier every time you watch it, so make sure you watch it at least 3 times.
possibly b/c you know what's coming.
you know what you're going to laugh at,
so you laugh before you're going to laugh,
and then you laugh again.
after thanksgiving dinner our entire fam huddles around the tv.
dad, sandie, adam, kels, grandma, grandpa, aunt sue, sometimes jess, any dogs we may have, sean, me, & someday brennan.
for now, the little loin is shipped off to bed;-)
so there's this line in the movie,
"par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par."
the character is talking about his father telling him about his golf game.
not being a golfer himself, he has no idea what his father is talking about.
so he smiles anyway.
every time i have no idea what someone is talking about that's the line that goes through my mind,
with a smile on my face,
"par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par"
like when brennan was in the hospital with rsv and i wanted his milk warmed up?
nurse: "you know you can't warm it up in that"
em: thinking "par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par"
nurse: "right?"
em: oh, i should say something, "right" biiiiiiiig smile, thinking "par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par"
nurse: "because you have to sit the cup in warm water to warm it up, how were you going to do it?"
em: "par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par"
nurse: "because you can't warm it up in that"
em: even bigger smile, "oh yeah, that's why i left the lid off. i thought we were going to pour it into something else"...."par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par".....biiiiiig smile.
nurse: looking at me like "i think she's fibbing a bit," while handing me the cup of warm water to sit the glass of milk in
em: "thanks so much!"...."par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par"
you should try it next time;-)
it works great.
"par, par, bogie, bogie, par, par"

blogging goddesses, questions i have!

blogging goddesses,

it snowed yesterday. A LOT.

inches and inches worth.

i love the snow.

i love big flakes, but i must confess i am a bit sad it's not 60 outside.

i was loving the warm sunshine and our daily trips to the swing.

however, i was able to wear my UGGS again, so that was a plus.

little pork loin is playing peek-a-boo around the couch with me. OH if you could see it!!!

videos to come.

what do you think about private blogs?

how do you get your kids to drink their milk?

ovaltine is helping, but not in the morning.

i left my bathroom clock on standard time.

all of the other clocks were changed.

every time i go into my bathroom i lose an hour all over again!

i was folding laundry yesterday, brennan was napping, and i looked up at the clock.

9:40am.

WOW! i'm doing so great:-) go me!

i've showered, done two loads of laundry, cleaned my bathroom....

wait a minute....

aaaaarrrrg, it's 10:40.

oh now i'm wishing it was 9:40!

i left the clock the way it was for the rest of day.

by 10:15 last night (9:15 in the bathroom) i'd had enough!

off to bed i went. the secret life of bees was calling...am i more like may than i'd like to think?

did you know march is national deep vein thrombosis month? what will the today show come up with next? lol.

oh, where was i going to go with this post this morning???? oh yes!

i have some questions for you!

Amy/Ames: do you have a blog? how did you find mine?

Natalie/Snarky: what is your favorite post of mine?

Sue: how did you find my blog? did you ever listen to matisyahu? you should try lily allen, she's my new fav:-) but get the edited version
Fiauna: what city do you live in?

Cuties: how did you find my blog & what is your name?

Sandie/Grandie: can you buy an extra box of peeps for brennan at easter?;-)

Brooke N: where did you get those brown little boots for Blake??!

Synergy Girl: where are you from?

Kim P: how far along are you?
Lisa D: did you free hand paint your bathroom, or did you have a stencil?

Stacy P: how's life after football?

Lauren H: when did you decide on chiropractic work? is that why you moved to arizona?

Tiff/Winderlove: how did you get into Zumba? when was your first class?

Missy T/Poulsen: does this mean you might end up having to have surgery after all?

Tiff Cody: how's the new job?

Kelsi H/Aunt Jen: can you do brennan's hand print as one of your first customers??!! oh please!!!

Paige/Po: do you still teach swimming? we're better than perez riiiiiiiiiiiiiight?????

i'm sure i've missed some of you, so if you're here,

leave a message

and we'll get back to you;-)

what questions do you have for me!?

love to you and yours,

e

...

p.s. here is a poem from sue to remind you to enter the pork loin's walking cookie contest! isn't she amazing!!??

When are you guessing that Brennan will walk?
People are already starting to talk.
So even though crawling was kind of a flop
(cuz the kid wouldn't move), now he's moving non-stop.

While the pork loin's loins were parked at one time,
now they're in constant motion. He may even climb!
So get your bets in. Question: WHEN WILL HE WALK?
Guess before March 13, and win cookies that rock!!

thanks sue, you're the cutest;-)

i'm taking bets!!!!!

here's a video to help you decide:

and another one in case you're still not sure!

before you pass go, we must share some history for our newer readers...

once upon a time,

there was a pork loin.

he sat, and sat, and sat upon his thrown.

he rolled and rolled, but would never scoot.

he would reach for toys and dig his knees,

but would never move an inch!

"come on little loin, it's such a cinch" his mommy & daddy would say.

"he's just too large to crawl and charge!" chanted many of the folk.

but dr. lynch hailed the loin for his cheeks and promised us he would crawl in weeks!

so we waited, and waited, and waited...

and waited.

bets were placed, cookies were waiting.

but all to no avail!

finally at 10 1/2 months the little loin commando crawled!

and here were are ready to walk,

and ready to try again!

so pick a date, any date for when you think he'll walk!

and remember, you can't win if you don't take a guess;-)

don't be a pest, just place your bets!

and you'll be the one who gets!

bets must be placed by Friday March 13th (oooo, scary!!!! Friday the 13th!)

still can't decide?

mommy's guess may or may NOT help;-)

nonetheless, i'm calling April 13th!

good luck to you and yours!

sunday & sunny

sunday & sunny.
that's today's forecast.
sorry we can't write more,
but we have to enjoy!

sounds of sunday:

love

e

p.s. keep your eyes peeled for tomorrow's giveaway!!!! that's right, another chance to have a batch of my famous cookies mailed straight to your doorstep! can you guess what you'll have to guess??!! (hints above)