this is DIVINE

If you don't like rich rich chocolate- then this is NOT for you. I LOVED it. They (I got it off the pioneer woman's website) call it baked fudge- but that is not a good name for it at all. Maybe "rich and gooey chocolate bake" is a better name. It comes out with a hard crusty top- and gooey soft center. Not runny like molten cake- but gooey like half cooked brownie batter.
This picture is from the internet. Mine is a little different.

2 eggs
1 c white sugar
2 tbs flour
2 heaping tbs cocoa
1/2 c butter (I did cut out about 2 tbs of the butter)
1 tsp vanilla

beat the eggs until fluffy (about two minutes). Add in the sugar and beat it some more. Then add all of the other ingredients and blend well.

Pour the batter into four ramekins (or pyrex baking dishes or whatever oven safe dishes you have). Place them in another baking dish that is half full of water.

bake at 325 for 50 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out gooey- but not runny. If it doesn't look ready- give it a few more minutes (5-10). I took mine out of the water for the last five-seven minutes and they sprouted up. They ended up being insanely DELICIOUS so I'll probably do that again.

It was really so warm and so good.

I'm in love with my almost six month old. I enjoy this baby waaaay more than I enjoyed zeb. He's at that perfect roly poly smiley phase. He can move-but not very much. He is entertained by ANY object I hand to him. He's got the fattest chin ever. He loves to giggle. At night he sleeps better than Zeb. And best of all- he NEVER whines or chucks trains at me. Don't be fooled though- Zeb knows he's my favorite :)

our day of wild animals.

So, post call days (the day after Kent's 28 hour shifts) aren't all that shabby. Usually he gets in 3-4 hours of sleep at the hospital and then a nap here at home in the morning and then he can play with us the rest of the day!
Today we all went to the Lucas county fair. Every year they have a free day and we lucked out with it being on Kent's day off this year.
Last year we went and Zeb didn't love the animals all too much. This year he was super duper excited about ALL of them. He couldn't believe the roosters and chickens and goats and pigs.

He heard real live turkeys gobbling and roosters cockadoodledooing. It was so fun to see his reaction to them all. When a giant horse neighed he got all excited and kept neighing back to him.

This grand prize winning turkey was insane HUGE. It also had the strangest looking face you've ever seen.



Here's zebb-o staring down a heifer.

Fair day also ended up being playgroup- so zeb got to run around with friends. He loved climbing fences and jumping in puddles with them all.
The giant cow was a big hit. Zeb was interested by the nightmarishly humongous udder and the letters on the dairy sign.


And then came the elephant! The elephant was actually at lunch. We got a great coupon in the mail to a place called "The Elephant Bar and Restaurant" and so we decided to check it out. It was AMAZING. I'm not sure how we made it two years in toledo without ever going. The place was very family friendly- the food was super delicious- and the price (especially for lunch) was very reasonable. The ambiance is really fun as well. We'll definitely be taking visitors here!

I've posted twice today to make up for missing yesterday. I got home late last night after watching "Slumdog Millionaire" at a friend's place. She has clearplay (a definite investment someday when we have a little more discretionary money) and so we had a little party to watch it. Besides the fact that everything goes wrong almost the ENTIRE movie- I really enjoyed it. The casting was definitely the highlight of the movie. The characters were perfect. I also especially loved the music. I'm definitely going to have to get some of it for my running playlist!

Kent had to leave before six again this morning and I think that Zeb is starting to stress that he doesn't see him in the morning. All day today he kept pleading with me for "papa". Kent's surgery schedule hasn't been nearly as grueling as I thought it would be. He's gone a lot- but we are busy and I have good kids (and great friends) to keep me company.

Tonight Kent is on call so we went and visited him at the hospital for an evening snack so that zeb could see him and quit pestering me! Zeb loved running around the place and getting free juice from the resident's lounge! He also loved the ice cream. He wasn't so happy about leaving Kent there for the night though.
I love that Kent is starting to really have fun. He is weird and loves school and usually even enjoys studying- but now he's doing the exciting stuff. He gets to wear his white coat for real patients and not just paid actors or cadavers :)

thanks mom! and two great summer meals.

I hate cooking dinner in the summer! especially since I was almost out of Mr. Yoshida's teriyaki sauce. Luckily mum sent me the the costco GALLON jug of it in the mail! thank you so much, mom! I can't believe it didn't explode on the way here- it was ginormous.

I'm posting two of my favorite summer meals. They are pretty basic- and pretty non original- but so fast/easy/delicious. They are perfect for summer.

#1
honey mustard teriyaki avocado chicken sandwich. these are my favorite flavors EVER. this sandwich was so good that we had it two nights in row. I swear that ours were better than red robins.

chicken breast marinated in mr. yoshidas (or other teriyaki sauce) -sliced in half lengthwise so they are thin. We pounded them a little bit too so that they were super tender.
whole wheat buns ( I hate buying buns because we never eat them all and some go bad- but I've started packing them in ziploc bags in twos and freezing them)
avocado thinly sliced
tomato thinly sliced
red onion sliced
honey mustard sauce - I make my own with sour cream/mustard/honey. It is really good.

Just grill up your chicken (we did it stovetop) broil/toast your buns and voila. Best sandwich EVER.


#2
bbq chicken quesadillas
I thought I came up with this all on my own- but apparently Wolfgang Puck makes them too.

tortillas
any cheese you've got
red onions
bbq (sweet baby rays hickory and brown sugar) chicken (made mine in a crock pot)
tomatoes
put them all in your tortillas and make em up! we are lucky enough to have a quesadilla maker (thanks laney and taylor!!) but you can do them in a pan too.
top with:
avocado (we made our into guac)
ranch or sour cream
fresh salsa

surgeon in training

happy christmas in july.

Blog post 777.
Can you believe I've posted that many times? Somebody saw me with my camera earlier this week and commented- "You must be a blogger. You can always tell a blogger". I'm a crazy blogger. It's my journal- and as mundane as our daily life seems to be- to me it's worth recording :)

Today we went out to Johnson's Island- one of Lake Erie's mini islands- for a birthday party. One of kent's friends from school has a little boy Zeb's age and they invited us out to their cottage for the day. The party was great and we had so much fun! We love getting to see new and exciting parts of Ohio! Their cottage was directly across the way from Cedar point.

Oh- and Starkey clan- some of their family members were from Ashland and know you guys! I can't remember their names- but I'll find out!


The theme was Christmas in July. I found great Christmas shirts for all of us to wear- but only got a great shot of Zeb's. He lucked out with the fab christmas sweater.

It was a little chilly- and there were lots of water snakes on the beach and swimming around- so we didn't get in the water, but Kent did take Zeb snake hunting and they got to see a few :)


We had an entire Christmas feast for lunch (turkey and the works) and there was even a christmas tree surrounded by presents for all of the kids to open. Zeb LOVED that part of the day. He was completely dirty and insanely exhausted by the end of the day and both he and Ike slept the entire car ride home.











He also loved throwing sticks into the water for Rocko to chase. His sticks never got very far.
Here's the dirty faced kid playing with his new christmas presents!

We had such a fun day and it was so nice for Kent to get a much deserved break from his busy schedule. He did have to go into the hospital from 6- till 10 this morning but he got the rest of the weekend off!

sad day at pickford

Here are all of the kiddos just waiting to jump in. Too bad they never got the chance. Apparently there was something wrong with the pool chemicals and everybody got sent home. Extremely tragic. Luckily we have our own little pool here at our apartments. It isn't as exciting as the mushroom pool- but it's still water and everybody still had fun.

RAIN RAIN RAIN! It's been rainy all week long. We've made it outside for spurts of dryness- and we've spent plenty of time getting wet this week- but we've also tried to do fun stuff inside.

We spent the morning at the family center at the museum of art. It's one of Zeb's favorite places. Since Kent worked all night- he had the day off and got to come! He came home and put in a few hours of sleep beforehand- and took a short nap later this afternoon.

Today at the museum zeb had an especially great time painting. He'd paint each stroke and call out the color as he did it. He wanted to paint the entire time we were there.

Luckily there are a few more toys that will distract him from the art room. He could play with this contraption forever. Too bad the place was packed and we could only find one ball. We have our good sharing days- and some bad. Today was not his best.


As we were going to leave I went to grab his drying painting and it had been stolen. It was that good. Luckily I got a picture of it. And check him out in his little apron with his tongue sticking out. So cute.

I love the rain.

Today was such a pleasant day.

This morning while I was getting Ike ready for our run, Zeb decided he wanted to go out and enjoy the rain on our deck. I'd opened the sliding door to let cool air in and Zeb escaped while I was turned around. I heard some jabbering from outside and when I went to take I look I found this:
Zeb had tried to put down his blanket (presumably to protect himself from the sopping wet deck) and lie down so that he could watch the rain. I asked him what he was doing and he replied "look mama, it's raining". I told him he was getting wet and he responded "yep. my blanket's wet". He ended up sopping wet as well. Luckily he was still in his pajamas. He is so funny- and really loves the rain.

Kent got to be home today for the afternoon. He had a call shift (6am-6am), but due to morning meetings and trainings he ended up missing half of his hospital day and so his resident let him take the other half (until 6pm) off as well. He got to come grocery shopping with us- and do lunch. He even snuck in a nap with Ike. These two always seem to be exhausted.

for sure zeb's dying (it's all in my head).

Kent's hours on pediatric surgery haven't been nearly as bad as I'd imagined. His opinions on them may differ from mine considering most of the worst hours he's putting in don't phase me a bit since I'm still sleeping (5-7 am and his all night call shifts).

The part of his rotation that's killing me is the stories he comes home with.

Zeb has been more accident prone since Kent started surgery than he has in a long long time. Just yesterday he ran SMACK into a large concrete pole. The thud was audible from quite a distance and the hit left bruises on his little noggin. Today he took a swan dive from the top of the TALL jungle gym at Swan Creek Park. I didn't happen to see the fall- but plenty others did. The poor kid landed face first and on his chest. It knocked the wind out of him so hard that he didn't take his first gasp until I'd run all the way over from where I was sitting.

All I can think about is how poor little zebby now has subdural hematomas and a lacerated liver or a torn apart spleen. he would not let me get any bruise pictures.

Summer days.

I told Kent this evening that it does not AT ALL feel like July. It seems more like September or April or May. The weather has a lot to do with it- but having Kent back to work- and not doing regular summer stuff (picnics/bbqs/fireworks/etc) with moms and dads and sisters and cousins is contributing too.

Luckily for us- kent's resident was feeling extra friendly (and also a little sick of work) today and decided to finish the day early- and let Kent do the same! Kent was home by four and we decided to celebrate and make a trip over to Lickity-split, a local ice cream shop. Zeb was lucky enough to have a playmate all day (his mom had a baby and so we took him off her hands) so he came a long as well.The two thoroughly enjoyed an ice cream sandwich together.

We also spent a great morning at the library for story time. Zeb likes to run around the chidren's area and play with friends so I'm usually chasing him all over- but today he was preoccupied by a book. I hadn't seen (or heard from him) for a few minutes and when I went to look for him I found him perched on this little bird house trying desperately to read this book. Every time he got up high enough to sit on the edge- he'd try to open the book, lose his balance, and fall off again. Luckily he's a problem solver and found an alternative.






We've been working on word recognition lately- and we have a list of words he can read. Yesterday while going through his words- we got to "go". I asked him to spell it out and tell me what it said. He read " 'g-o' spells... green light!". He is so funny and really really loves to learn.

And finally- here's #2. All of his pictures for the next little while are going to look rather similar. He loves being in his trashy old swing. I think he just loves to be upright- and high enough to watch what's going on. He also LOVES sitting up and playing with toys and it's much easier in the swing than on the floor.

He finally ate solids today without spitting them back out at me. It must have been the green beans or something (takes after his nannie annie). He gobbled up his carrots and cereal today like a ravenous baby shark.

Today was Kent's first weekend call- and he doesn't get home until tomorrow sometime. It's been a long Saturday but we've been playing with friends to try and make ourselves busy! I'm sure the day has been longer for Kent since it started at six this morning and goes until tomorrow.

Luckily Zeb and Ike have been all smiles today and tonight I've been watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Storm Chasers". Hooray for cable. It makes me feel so much less lonely.

I told Ike that I needed him to smile for me and this is what I got. I'm not sure what this smile is all about but he's a natural and has already learned to smile as soon as he sees the camera. Really, I think he's mostly excited about my fab yard sale find. 50 cents for this great toy. I can even attach it to the stroller on runs. He LOVES it. It crinkles and has all sorts of cool things to chew on (yes, I washed it first).

And here's my zebby. He seems so grown up to me lately. He's so much fun. Every night when Kent gets home, the two of them laugh and laugh and laugh about the most ridiculous things. He is DEFINITELY a daddy's boy. Whenever I get frustrated with him or he goes to timeout- he pleads for Kent.

I am in LOVE with this weather. I couldn't be happier that it's July and I need a jacket. If Toledo could promise me this kind of weather every summer- I'd stay forever and be happy as a clam. We still have hot enough days to swim (80-89) but humidity is low. Today the high was 76. Tomorrow it's 70! I know that I shouldn't speak so soon- we've still got August coming and it can still get really bad- but right now I am happy.

My runs are fantastic. This morning the kids wore jeans and needed their blankets! oh- and my bridge is up again. The trail is still bumpy and they haven't rebuilt the boardwalk in places- but it's at least runnable now. Zeb searches for Nemo in the water every time we cross the bridge.

This kid hates to eat. Really. He doesn't do solids at all. Every bit of rice cereal or veggies that go into his little mouth come right back out with a big goofy grin. I guess I'll just keep trying until he starts swallowing. Zeb was eating like CRAZY at this point. He had lots of teeth and was chomping on cheerios. Come on Ike, get on it.




















and speaking of Zeb, here are some of his other 2 year pictures. He's so dang cute- and the photographer is fabulous. I could post every single one but the post would be ridiculously long. I'll post the rest on facebook if anybody wants to see them all!

This is one of my favorites. It is so indicative of our evening. He was done with the night before we even began. He was so sick of my antics and attempts to try and make him smile.
We took the pictures at a park right near our house (sidecut) and there were so many great places! we only had one near catastrophe. Zeb chucked percy into the river in one spot and I had to jump in after him.And I just like this one because he's hot and sweaty and tired.

And here's my favorite little rugrat, happy Zeb. I love his natural smiley face.

more water pics.

I'm always finding something new and fabulous here in Toledo. Today we went (thanks to a bunch of guest passes) to the JCC/YMCA outdoor pool for playgroup. It was PERFECT. They have the most wonderful little kiddie pool that's all fenced in and separate from the regular pool. it was so nice. The water is waist level for all of the kiddos- and there are buckets of water toys to play with. Plus- the kiddie pool has it's own lifeguard to keep watch on our rugrats.

We stayed for almost three hours and Zeb was in heaven. He had soooo many friends to play with- and lots of space for when he didn't want to play with anyone at all :)

We don't have a Y pass- but once winter rolls around and I can't run outside anymore I may be getting one. You can't beat the cheap student price (17ish/mo) that includes FREE childcare!

oh- if only.

If there were ever a time I wish we had family here in Toledo- it's now. We need a babysitter from 12-3 AM. There is nothing I want more than to be going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter tonight with Kent. Yeah, we're nerds- big deal. We don't do movies at the theater almost ever- but this is HARRY POTTER and worth every last cent of the ten plus dollars the tickets cost. We'll see it soon I'm sure- but it's just not the same as seeing it opening night at midnight. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

When we say the word "stinky"- Ike breaks into fit of laughter. It's one of the few things that makes him really laugh!

he may be crawling soon!

Rugrat #2 LOVES to be on his stomach. He likes to scoot and squirm and try to steal his brother's trains too. He's on track to be an army crawler just like rugrat #1. I hope he learns to regular crawl instead, though. Zeb's clothes got SOOOOOOOOO dirty from being dragged all over the place. At least with crawling- the dirt and muck is localized to knees and hands.




He is also getting so big so fast. I think he looks like a monster baby in this picture. It took him awhile to chunk up but he's been packing on the pounds lately. He woke up this week and seemed to have totally outgrown all of his clothes and diapers. Looks like we're moving up in the baby world.