Spring Break Beard

It seems that whenever Theo has an extended amount of time off from work, that translates into "Let's see how long I can grow my beard!". He has tried this tactic several times and I have come to the conclusion that I HATE facial hair.

First the whiskers poke my face whenever I want to make out with him. Then they turn in to sand paper that he just loves to torture me with, attacking me and rubbing his face all over mine and my neck! He may think it's funny, up until I punch!

Of course I don't punch hard, for one I'm usually in hysterics laughing too hard to get any real muscle behind it, and two I don't want to mess up that face! LOVE IT!

Then when the beard gets soft enough that it doesn't exfoliate my face, I have to deal with the feeling of hair around my mouth when he goes in for a kiss. YUCK!

So this time I devised a plan, obviously a little late in the game as you can tell by this picture, but one that I will be using from now on. I told him, if he doesn't shave, than neither do I! This picture was taken a few days before his vacation was up and was right before he shaved.

Game point - Me.

Bacon Avocado Pizza

Every Monday night in the Ikner home is pizza night. A friend of mine gave me a super simple pizza dough recipe about 4 years ago and I have been making it weekly ever since. I always do the typical Turkey pepperoni pizza for the kids, but for Theo and I, I like to get a little creative!

One of our favorites has been s Shrimp and Basil, and our Supreme puts all other store bought kinds to SHAME! I noticed an Avocado pizza on another blog the other day and since I have an unnatural obsession with Avocados I just had to give it a try. And to add to the awesomeness I found a recipe for a Bacon and Avocado pizza! I promise I was in pizza heaven!

Here is the recipe in case you have a love of avocados and bacon and pizza as I do:

Pizza dough:

2 tbsp yeast
2 cups hot water
2 tsp salt
4 tsp honey
4 tbsp olive oil
5 cups flour (I like to make mine half white and half wheat)

Mix yeast and water and let sit about 5 minutes to activate the yeast. When bubbly mix other ingredients in. Transfer dough to a greased glass bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise for one hour. Divide into 2 pizzas.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll dough onto pan and bake for 5 minutes. Take out and top with sauce and whatever toppings you would like. Bake another 12 minutes.

My sauce for 2 pizzas is just 2 cans of diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings and 1 small can of tomato paste, warmed in a pot just so the paste can mix in well.

With the avocado pizza you top with cooked bacon and onion. Cover in mozzarella cheese and then bake for 12 minutes, then when it is done cooking cut up the avocado and put on top. Then sprinkle with cilantro.

DISCLAIMER: Eating this pizza may result in intense or paroxysmal excitement. I do not take responsibility for the sounds you will be making while eating this!

Friday on a Monday

When we were living in California some good friends of ours adopted a dog from the Marin Humane Society. Their daughter named her Friday, which I thought was a really cool name. As soon as I met her I knew she was the perfect dog. I couldn't get enough of her. When her puppy mischief proved to be very costly (she chewed up their automatic pool cover!) they had to find other living arrangements.

I was more than happy to take her! It took Theo some getting used to, but he came around quickly. She really is a good dog! I guess it helped that we didn't really have anything expensive for her to chew up. Although she liked to go for the more sentimental things, like Theo's Mickey Mouse ears that had his name embroidered on it that he got from Disney World when he was a kid. And a pair of genuine baby Indian moccasins that I bought when I found out I was pregnant with #2.

But all in all she has proven herself a real keeper. She's been my protection when Theo is gone, my running companion, bed-cuddler with the kids and a member of the family.

I love my Friday!

Introducing Sparkles

At 12:30 A.M. Thursday night this little booger decided to make my engine her new home. Our dog, Friday, was barking like crazy at the window beside the driveway. Thinking it was Dakota, my cat, I let her in, but could hear the meowing pleas of another animal. I woke up Theo and together we spent the next hour and a half trying to coax this kitten out so we could grab her.

We would scare her out of my car just to have her run under Theo's car and jump up into his engine. Over and over we did this. I'm sure we were a sight!

Theo wanted to give up several times, but I was too afraid of turning my car on in the morning and something really bad happening and then we would be planning a Kitty funeral! Finally I forgot about my own skin and crawled under my car, reached up and grabbed her.

It is still not set in stone as to whether she will become an Ikner. Ever since I introduced her to the kids it has gone from glee-screeching squeals to tearful protests as to who held her the longest. I am really close to sending her to the LDS pound!

What? You've never heard of the LDS pound? It's the place my mom told me she took the new little kittens our Mama cat just weened. You know, so some nice Mormon family could adopt them? Or maybe it was just her way of consoling her young daughter who after finding out the kittens were gone when she came home from school, sobbed all night listening to THIS SONG over and over and over again.

Yeah, probably that.

Hopefully Sparkles will make it, or I just may be getting that song on itunes so my girls can start their grieving process.

Happy B-day PawPaw!

My Dad had his big #72 on Monday. Here is the cake I made for him to celebrate our rich Creek Indian heritage.

I found out that Puca (pronounced Boo-jah) is Grandpa in Creek. I thought that was super cool and a little nugget of wisdom for you. Who knows, you may make it on to Jeopardy one day and the question/answer will be "The Creek Indian term for Grandpa" and then you will know. So you're welcome in advance...

For my Dad's birthday present he got a new knee! Congrats! He is still in the hospital making a quick recovery. And I'm sure the Oatmeal Raisin cookies I made for him today are really going to help with that recovery process.

Spanish Lessons

Dora: "Abajo!"
Hannah: "Wah-ho!"
Dora: "Again, Abajo!"
Hannah: "Wah-bo!"
Dora: "LOUDER! ABAJO!"
Hannah: "WAH-PO!!"

Me: "Hannah, what does that mean?"
Hannah: "I don't know."

Fail Dora, Fail...

A Poem by Emma

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I love you Mommy
and you're a great cook!

Thank you baby! Love you too!