Dirt Showers, Food, and More Baby

On Thursday, we had a spring rain that left dirt all over the car! I’ve heard of acid rain, but mud rain is a new one. Weather forecasters had this to say:

Spring rains are typically refreshing, but Thursday morning’s moisture was mixed with dirt, depositing a dustlike film is some areas. And while some might suspect the volcano in Iceland as the messy culprit, experts say that was unlikely.
‘We can’t prove or disprove it, but it’s more than likely not the volcano,’ said Frank Benton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Strong windstorms out of the Southwest likely kicked up dust as they roared across deserts in Arizona and southwestern Colorado on Wednesday, sending particulates into the jet stream, which were then washed from the sky as rain fell overnight and Thursday morning, Benton said. ‘It’s high winds across the desert and jetstreams,’ Benton said. ‘Then the rain came and dumped it to the ground.’ (Story by Kieran Nicholson, The Denver Post, 4/30/10)

On Thursday, Phoebe was wide awake quite a bit. She’s spending more and more of the day looking around and working out her little legs and arms. In this video, I broke my self-imposed two minute limit because I got enraptured by her karate kicks and chops.

However, she did sleep adorably some of the day.

This hand is even more pronounced than the last one!

More kicking, this time while lying on the Boppy. (The color balance is a little better in this one.)

This is just a series of totally cute Phoebe photos…

Yesterday, I spent almost the whole day cooking. Brenda and Michael came over for dinner and I wanted to try a pot pie recipe I found online. It started with a whole chicken! I had no idea you could make stock or soup by boiling a raw chicken…for some reason, I thought it had to be roasted first. I guess heat is heat! First I made stock (with some left over to freeze) and set aside the chicken meat. Then I used my new food processor to make the pie crust.

An hour or so before we were planning to eat, I made the filling. I bought 10 oz. ramekins at the grocery store specifically for these pies, but they’ll be good for dessert tarts too. I rolled out the dough, topped the pies (the recipe doesn’t call for a bottom crust), and used a wooden spoon to brush on the egg wash (I don’t have a pastry brush). The pies baked for 25 minutes. I also made a couscous salad. I frosted the chocolate layer cake I’d made the day before. (Chocolate icing with a spring flower in green, pink, and yellow…why didn’t I take a photo to show you? I guess I’ll have to make another cake sometime soon…) The pot pies were just amazing—totally worth a day spent happily in the kitchen. The cake was great too. My mom used to make cookies all the time, so on Thursday I made oatmeal raisin bars. What’s the point of maternity leave if you can’t do some cooking? Phoebe and I are getting out for a walk daily, so I think we’re counteracting a few extra desserts.

Today it’s sunny and beautiful outside. Since it’s Saturday morning, we’re at the coffee shop. Erica, Adam, and Henry are coming over for lunch and we’re planning to Skype with Mom, Don, Erika, Heidi, and Genevieve later on. E, H, and G are flying out on Tuesday for the Grand Meeting of the Cousins. We’re looking forward to seeing them! Photos ops should abound, so stay tuned.