So you think YOU can dance?

Here is the future winner of SYTYCD 2023



Yes, this is the same song Ashlyn and Bryson were recently seen dancing to. Tara, do you listen to disney radio online too? :)

Playtime fun

Rowan just being silly, and Ellie playing with a friend (who is from South Africa!).

Tatum Tidbits take two

Since everyone liked the last tidbits I posted, I thought I would post some more. It's much easier to write a blog this way too!

- Rowan woke up with a dry diaper this morning, woohoo! We're still working on the daytime training though.

- Ellie made a new friend yesterday (a semi-neighbor we hadn't met yet) and had a playdate at her house this morning. When I asked what time to come pick her up the mom said, "Really, whenever is fine. Let her eat lunch here; we're staying home all day." I was tempted to leave her until dinner, but figured I should go pick her up at 1:00. After all, the mom also has 6-month-old twin boys!

- I bought a spouse membership to the university's gym system. I also take yoga at our community center on Thursday nights. Maybe I will actually exercise regularly now :)

- We went to McDonalds for dinner tonight. Usually everyone buys items from the dollar menu, but tonight I bought kids meals for the kids just for the toy inside. They have awesome American Girl tiny books with little paper dolls inside. Ellie will love them!

- Ellie is signed up for ballet and indoor soccer this semester, and is currently taking Spanish classes at the library. I think that's pretty well-rounded. The start and stop dates of all the classes are staggered so she will only be taking one class per week. Rowan will be taking a swimming class, since he spent the summer watching Ellie take a swimming class and saying, "Rowie nurn (turn) now! Rowie fwim!"

- I am now the treasurer on the Assembly board for our community, and the president of Ellie's preschool board. Yikes!!

- We can't wait to start getting income again once school starts!!!!

End of summer fun

Yesterday we drove 40 minutes to Lodi, WI, where our good friends live. They have 2 girls the same ages as our kids, and our kids have a lot of fun together. And Lodi has a free pool and kiddie pool perfect for warm summer days.

Ellie hoarding all the pool toys


Enjoying the chilly water on a warm day


Go duckie, go!


Goofy little boy. On a side note, he wore undies throughout this entire day, no diaper!

Can you tell Ellie is thrilled to have her daddy back home?

Ellie and her best friend

Remember this slide from Starline? Well, they have one in Lodi, WI too :)

What other fun can we cram into the last days of summer?

Are we slowly turning into vegetarians?

No, I don't think we could really give up chicken and fish, but we do eat a lot less meat than we used to. Not only can it be healthier, if you can make meals with well-balanced meatless proteins, but it is better for the environment to eat less meat (mainly red meat). See here: http://www.good.is/post/red-meat-is-bad-for-the-environment-the-chart/

On that note, today I made these meatballs for lunch, which actually shouldn't be called meatballs, because there is no meat in them. Hmm, nut/yogurt/bread/cheese balls? Does anyone have a good name for them?

From: http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/theres-no-meat-in-our-favorite-meatballs/ Notes in italics are mine

The Ingredients
1 cup finely ground walnuts
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup yogurt cheese or drained cottage cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon salt

And:
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs… I make my own from 6 slices of bread and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons dried parsley, and 1 teaspoon each dried oregano, basil, and garlic powder… OR (as specified in the recipe) 2 cups purchased seasoned bread crumbs

And:
3 or 4 whole raw eggs


My Method — Preparing the Ingredients

The taste and texture is what “makes” these meatballs, so how the ingredients are prepared is extremely important.

The walnuts must be ground very finely, almost to the “nut butter” stage. (The food processor does this in a couple of minutes.) Chopped walnuts won’t give the meatballs the right texture. For those of you with a Trader Joe's, I used almond meal

I grate the cheddar cheese separately in the food processor until it too is very finely grated.

The yogurt cheese is made from my own yogurt, drained overnight in a colander (in the refrigerator). I used (also from Trader Joe's) plain nonfat greek yogurt, it is thick enough without draining overnight.

I chop the onion, cook it until it is transparent, and then run it through the food processor until it is pureed… this gives flavor but no chunks of onions in the meatballs.

I make the seasoned bread crumbs from six slices of dry bread and oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese, pulsing all these ingredients together in the food processor until the crumbs are very fine. (The original recipe called for purchased seasoned bread crumbs, which probably would not have Parmesan cheese as an ingredient. We really like the addition of the Parmesan cheese.)

Making the Mock Meatball Mixture

Combine all of the prepared ingredients… walnuts, cheddar cheese, yogurt cheese, onion, and herb-seasoned bread crumbs… in a large bowl. Add the salt, basil, and sage, and mix well. At this point, before you add the egg, taste the mixture and add more herbs, salt, etc., to suit your taste.

Next, add the eggs… one at a time… and mix them in thoroughly until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed. How many eggs to add depends on the size of the eggs and the dryness of the bread crumbs. You will want the mixture to be the same consistency as for regular meatballs or meatloaf. Be careful not to add too many eggs and make the mixture too wet.


I shape the mixture into meatballs that are slightly less than two inches in diameter. The original recipe then went on to bake the meatballs in tomato sauce for 35 to 40 minutes. I bake my meatballs in my homemade spaghetti sauce (tomatoes, basil, oregano, parsley, and garlic), but before I add the meatballs to the sauce, I bake the meatballs in the oven on a baking tray until the outsides of the meatballs are lightly browned. I think browning the meatballs adds to both the flavor and the texture, although this was not in the original recipe

We ate some alone without sauce after browning them, and the kids loved them. Jason didn't even mention that they tasted different until I told him there was no meat in them. They held up well in the sauce and seemed like normal meatballs with the spaghetti. Personally, I think I will make them and serve them plain to the kids; I think they tasted even better that way. They look more difficult to make than they really are, I promise :)

Like sister, like brother

For the past few months, Rowan's main goal in life has been to copy Ellie. Whatever Ellie says, Rowan says. Whatever Ellie does, Rowan does. Sometimes this is cute, like when they both chant, "Go Mommy, go!" as I bike them up steep hills. Sometimes this is annoying, like when they are jumping on either side of me on the couch screaming like monkeys.

The other day, Ellie thought it would be funny to put her shorts on her top and her shirt on her bottom.


Then of course Rowan had to do it too. Well, he tried.


And he tried.


And he tried. Some things he just can't do as well as Ellie.

Did you notice Rowan is now wearing undies? He is doing a great job at potty-training. At home we are usually safe, especially if I make sure to prompt him every so often to go at least try. We haven't tried leaving him in undies when we leave home though. Maybe we should, since at the park yesterday he stopped playing, ran over to the grass, opened one side of his diaper, and peed. How could I not praise him? Now peeing standing up, that is one thing Ellie cannot do.

But they can both make muffins in their swimsuits.

Ellie has been begging me all summer to let her ride her bike without training wheels. I told her she had to wait until daddy came home so we would have someone to watch Rowan while she practiced (but really I just didn't want to run back and forth with her bike). But now that daddy is home, she's got us out there running back and forth. Do you think she is padded enough?

And of course Rowan has to be just like Ellie :)

Now I'll leave you with two videos of Ellie biking. Don't laugh at the parents struggling to keep up and keep her balanced at the same time!