Grilled Cheese Grill

Yes, this is where we ate dinner the first night we were in Portland.  It's a double decker bus and they serve grilled cheese.  Only grilled cheese.  Kennedy was so excited to eat on the bus she could hardly contain herself. 

The tables inside the bus were decorated with old yearbook pictures.  Classic.  And while we waited for our meals, we answered questions from the deck of Trivial Pursuit cards conveniently on the table.

I got a sandwich on sourdough with mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and artichokes.  It was yummy yummy yummy.  Kennedy had the preschooler, which was just a normal sandwich with no crust.  And Brett had this behemoth.

That's a grilled cheese on top of a burger with another grilled cheese on the bottom.  That's right.  No bun.  Grilled cheeses instead.  And he ate the whole thing.  Crazy!  We also had a grilled cheese for dessert which was AMAZING.  It was nutella, bananas, and mascarpone cheese grilled on cinnamon raisin bread.  It was suggested that you eat it alone.  I understand why now.

Our first night in Portland was definitely a success.

Ashley Doesn't Know I Am Doing This On Her Blog Part #2.

In a tribute to Mothers Day, I tried to butter up a little bit by showing my appreciation for Ashley.  It might be worth the read if you are my wife.  If not, I make no guarantees......But it will help you get to know Ashley a bit better, which is always worthwhile. 

 

Happy Mothers Day Wife

An Ode to the Mother of My Kids

By: Brett

May, 2011

One night while getting ready to put myself to bed,

I said something to Ashley I knew I might regret.

Not that I didn’t mean it; more that I should have known,

By passing to her this compliment, a question in her mind had already grown.

So to all fellow husbands and friends who are yet to be,

I pass this word of strict advice, IN THIS, don’t be like me.

If you want to say anything to your girl, be sure to think it through

And have ready a few things in mind in case she turns the question to YOU.

 “So what is that you said to her?” as you read I feel you implore.

All I really said to her was “Honey, You deserve so much more!”

It wasn’t my intent to say that I thought her husband was a bum,

Or that the house we’re living in was knee deep in the slums.

More so what I meant to say was furthermore implied,

Because I didn’t have the words to save my not-so-little hide.

When I said those words the response I got was “Nah, not really...Now Why?”

Now a couple months later, on Mother’s Day, this is my reply:

Rather than the “Why?” we will start with the “What” and the “Who?”

I think that you deserve.  On my word what follows is true:

Ashley you deserve a man with the face of perhaps Brad Pitt,

But let’s make him sweet and tender: Let’s teach him how to knit.

The body we will give him shall be from none other than the Rock,

Now mix that with Captain Kirk’s Courage and the Brains of our dear friend Spock.

He’ll get you a gigantic kitchen with lots of nifty gizmos and gadgets.

He’ll stand at the sink and do dishes and handle the kids when they get into their fits.

He’ll take you to India and Paris, perhaps to the Taj Mahal,

Get ready for this, cause here it comes: He'll even be happy to go the the MALL!

He won’t be too weird or too quirky.  His odd habits he’ll keep all in check.

He’ll put the toilet seat down, and not find great joy from putting ice on the back of your neck.

He’ll always be sensitive to feelings, especially when watching the Big Game!

Cut Your Hair?  Had a Bad Day?  He fails to notice?  Of himself  he’ll be right ashamed

He’ll watch all your British TV Shows, and love them as much as do you.

The biggest perk of all this, he’ll understand their accents too!

My dear all this you deserve, and finally I am prepared

With the question that made me stunned and stare:

WHY?

Ashley, it’s all that you give me whether present or far out of sight.

It’s exactly just what made me love you, and propose to you on that cold snowy night.

On a basis that’s daily you help me to see,

All the potential that you see in me.

Your smile pushes sunshine through torrents of rain

Your touch heals a heart overflowing with disdain.

Your presence can calm the most angry of children

And man, do you know how to cook a scrumptious chicken!

A large understatement it is to say how amazing it is to behold

Your strength to maintain a functioning household

While I am at work through those long days and nights,

Your patience is long-lasting, despite hyper tykes!

Your passion for life and the joys that in it abound,

Makes me want to live it with you, and with you make them found.

Your will to support me in the most ridiculous of my dreams

cannot be fully understood.  I appreciate it more than it seems.

Your love for our children is obvious and clear.

It is present and admirable.  It’ll be remembered for years.

I couldn’t have found an example of a woman that’s better

For my daughter to follow.  I couldn’t be gladder.

 It might be a start to what you deserve by having poetry written by a husband

And maybe I’ll exercise a bit more in attempts to shrink the size of my bum,

I can’t say I will ever be satisfied with my answers,

Nor will I ever have a face like Ashton Kutcher.

Now the answer to just why exactly you deserve more

Is actually shown in how you responded, now that’s just for sure

I came up with answers, and decent ones a plenty,

Using my fingers and toes I stopped counting at twenty.

You interrupted me and told me I’ve given you all you want and you need.

You don’t need a life so full of glimmer and speed.

You just want a husband to love and grow old with

The adventure is having someone to share all life’s surprises.

So although the rhythm and rhymes might be off and perhaps cheesy,

These words almost half reflect how living with you makes living easy.

I Love You

Happy Mothers Day!

FYI-I will likely be taking lessons shortly from Ashley on how to put pictures in posts without messing the entire post up...in case you were wondering.

Happy Feet

The quality is bad, but you get the picture (pun intended).

Noah has finally gotten to the point where it is worth it to buy shoes because he's walking so well.  We got them yesterday and he loved them!  This morning, while still in his jammies, I caught him trying to jam them on his feet.  So I helped out a little.  And we said the new shoes rhyme.

New shoes in the winter, new shoes in the fall,

When we see your new shoes, we will start to call,

Happy happy new shoes!

Princess Kate? Princess Kennedy!

Princess Kate ain't got nothin' on this sweet princess.

The highlights of the royal wedding came on while we were eating breakfast here on the west coast, so I took my cereal to the couch instead of the table.  This is unusual, so Kennedy asked me what was going on.  I told her that a real prince and princess were getting married and she immediately left the table and came to watch.  She kept yelling at the screen, "Is that Princess Kate?!"  "Is she wearing a big dress?!"  "Are they getting married?!"

At this point the excitement was too much and she ran into her room yelling that she was getting her crown, tutu and princess shoes.  She couldn't find them in her room, so she came careening down the hall into the front room and started throwing things out of the toy boxes in there.  She then put on all of her gear and announced that she was Princess Kennedy.

Someone was excited.