Easter Bunny Visit

Ben was the only one brave enough to sit next to this giant bunny. But Neil has been doing a very good impression of a bunny since he bounces everywhere he goes lately. The boys also had breakfast where Ben indulged in two serving of eggs and sausages, while Neil managed to scarf down SIX pancakes. Keep in mind this was only an hour or two after their regular breakfast. Neil may end up to be one of those competition eaters.

Ben's Speech Update 3-12

Today I meet with Ben's speech Pathologist, Mrs. Capp, as well as his Kindergarten teacher and the assistant principal. They had completed his 3-year evaluation which is how often students with an IEP (individual education plan) are evaluated. Not that any of us were surprised, but Ben no longer qualifies for special education services. We are very proud of the tremendous progress Ben has made with his speech since he entered the Early Intervention program back when he was 2 1/2. His speech and language skills are now on par with that of his peers. It was so encouraging to get this news and we were especially proud to hear that most of the children who start this program with the severity of his delay have to continue until 3rd grade. I know Ben will miss his special time with Mrs. Capp each week, but were glad for the extra time he can focus on his regular classroom assignments.

My Birthday Dinner 2012

As many of you know this is quite an event for Brian and I. This year Brian started planning back in the fall. We saw a segment about a fine dining micro restaurant called EL ideas. So Brian checked into it and found he had to enter a lottery to win a seating. Talk about Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. We were lucky enough to be selected after a few months and Brian postponed our reservation until my special day. EL ideas is in southwest Chicago in an industrial neighborhood and without a GPS you could certainly miss it. To say it's small might be an understatement, their large seating is 16 diners. It's also BYOB which we received suggestions from the chefs a few days ahead of time. Thanks to Binny's they did some really great pairings for us.

The kitchen was open to the dining area so you could see the chefs working the whole time. A few of the patrons stepped in to watch close up, but I know as a designer I'm not much of a fan of having someone watching over my shoulder as I work, so I wouldn't impose it on someone else. One of the other diners did appear to be a food writer since he was taking pictures with a pretty nice camera and not just his camera phone like me. Oh, I didn't get all of the courses photographed, I was too distracted by the eating. To add to the intimate atmosphere our server was playing quite an interesting selection in music. Things like C is for Cookie, Green Acres theme song, and Solo Cup song. After hearing the Sesame Street theme song Brian mentioned we were curious if something from Schoolhouse Rock would be played. Later that evening we heard Three is the Magic Number. The slightly humorous music seemed to get all the patrons in good spirits and by our third course we started chatting with other tables. Primarily with comments about licking the plates but also about the wine we were enjoying.

So enough of my blathering here's the goods:
Crab featuring roe, grapefruit and lemongrass
Tuna with beans, anchovy and olive (This had a spring of lavender on it, which was a first for me.)
Turnip with cider, cinnamon and dijon (Bri was amazed by this course – and I was amazed he was excited about a non-meat course.)

Turbot featuring lobster, salsify and sherry vinegar (Here's where we wanted to start plate licking and yes I had to google salsify. It's a root vegetable.)
Truffle with potato, popcorn and romaine (Not real popcorn, but they capture the flavor in a dollop of heaven)

Jidori Chicken with sweetbreads, celeriac and raisins (more googling here)

Scallop with cauliflower, black garlic and radish (Brian I'm sure will be scouring markets looking for this black garlic)

Snail featuring pine nut, brioche and garlic

Marrow with chestnut, chard and blood orange (We were both surprised that this was not as rich as we imagined it would be.)

Lamb with couscous, harissa and cumin (More googling, a hot chili sauce. We had to mention to our server that this dish really need to come with a spoon, since it was served in a bowl and we couldn't quite get all of the last bits to our mouths.)

Venison with sassafras, date and pecan
Explorateur of grape, peanut and bubble gum (Here's where they lost me. Unfortunately I have a life-long hated of bubble gum flavor. It comes from having to choke down too many doses of antibiotics as a child.)

Chocolate with forbidden rose, cookies and pomegranate

Our chefs were Phillip Foss, Andrew Brochu, Michael Destefano, and Kevin McMullen

It was a really lovely meal and definitely ranks in the top five.

From Super Powers to Pirate Patch Time

For those of you familiar with Neil's Duane's Syndrome, you may have heard he had decided it was his super power. When he looks to the left he is able to have double vision to which he proudly proclaims, "I see two of you!" Well, we returned to the eye doctor today and learned that she is starting to detect a right eye dominance in his vision. She explained to him he is no longer allowed to use his super power, Ahh – kryptonite. The technical term for vision dominance is amblyopia of the left eye. So now we have to have Neil wear an eye patch over his right eye for two hours each day until we return to see her next month. The hope is to strength the weaker eye. We are calling the patches 'Pirate Patches', but Neil will be able to decorate them anyway he likes. Today he successfully made it through his 2 hours and only had to have the patch reapplied once.

Gingerbread House 2011

The boys have been jacked out of their minds about Christmas. For whatever reason, Neil has been talking about gingerbread houses daily. So today while at Aldi, I spied a Gingerbread House kit... and it was on sale, what could be better! Here is what was able to make it onto the house, the rest had to be eaten so it wouldn't go bad.

Neil's Preschool Holiday Party

Neil's class held a party today which was kicked off by a concert. The kids sang a few holiday songs then we enjoyed a nice buffet together. Here is a still shot of Neil with a few of his girlfriend's.

I had a chance to chat with a few of the other parents and they all said how they always hear stories of Neil from their children (I'm not sure this is a good thing). Anyway, the little girl on the far right recently told her mom that she and Neil were going to be married. True to his gender, Neil has never mentioned this to me.

Now if you have the six and half minutes here's the concert video.

Winter Wonderland

Went to a holiday event at the Parks and Rec center last night. The boys got a chance to see Santa, which had to occur separately since Ben had no interest in sharing his lap time with Neil. Neil asked for a toy train (the abundance of Thomas items must not be enough), while Ben asked for ear plugs (what he means is head phones). They had an opportunity to make a Christmas tree ornament, bounce on the inflatables, ride the mini train, see Santa's reindeers up close, and best of all watch a juggler's act. Both of them were totally into this guy. The absolute highlight was when he juggled fire and pretended to burn his butt. "He burned his butt!! Ha-ha.", Neil exclaimed numerous times. I was more impressed that the juggler was able to propel his 300-some pound mass on a unicycle. Either way he was quite an entertainer.