Hope's Rambling Thoughts

Puddle Play = Strange Happiness

2012-01-26T05:03:00.000-08:00

It rained for three days. Then there was a huge (as in 6 inches deep huge) puddle in front of our house by the road. On Monday afternoon, on the way to get Ethan from the bus stop, Benji looked longingly at it. I took about 3 seconds to think about and decided the mess would be worth it. "Benji, go stomp in that puddle!"I said, and he did.

The bus arrived, and Ethan got off. I encouraged Ethan to play it in too. He put down his backpack and ran in. They kicked the water around and chased each other through the water. Fiona got heavy, so I put her down next to a tiny puddle on the cement. I half-smiled as her pants and socks get muddy and her diaper bulged with water.

As I watched Ethan and Benji playing so happily, I felt something strange that I wish I could feel more often. My body couldn't help a genuine smile and a sigh of happiness. I felt completely happy for a moment. The kids were experiencing bliss, and by watching them experience it, I had it too. Pure bliss.

I even called my mother and said, "The boys are playing in a giant puddle, and it reminds me of my childhood. I have so many fond memories of playing in rain water and taking a shower under the gutter with my swim suit on. I'm so glad you weren't the kind of mother who said, 'Don't play in the dirt!' 'Don't get wet!' 'You'll ruin your clothes!'" We had lots of fun as kids, and didn't feel squelched in our playtime, and I still treasure those memories today.

I have tried for a long time to see particular moments as special moments, and then savor and treasure them. And I savored this one. I sighed again, and laughed at the boys, and how could I forget who allowed this: "God, thank you for this moment."

Once the laundry is clean, you can get it back, but missing a chance to create memories and have real fun ... ya can't get that back.

So, here's to lots more chances to savor sweet moments with our kids while they create a fond memory.

If you have a particular memory of your childhood that you treasure, or if you've recently created a new one, share it.

A Day in the Life of a Supermom

2012-01-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

List of things I did today:

Cleaned up Benji and the bed after he wet the bed (6:40 am)

Played with the kids while still lying in bed

Got up and got me and the kids breakfast

First cup of coffee (7:30 am)

Cleaned up from breakfast

Did a little internet-ing on moneysavingmom.com

Took Fiona to the doctor (ear infection!)

Scoped out CVS Pharmacy next door so that I can start playing the drug store game soon

Picked up Fiona's prescription at Walmart

Came back home, got Benji and myself a snack

Started a movie for Benji

Tried to put Fiona down for a nap (unsuccessfully)

Started a load of laundry

Changed a lightbulb

Second cup of coffee while checking email (10:45 am)

Worked out 30 minutes (stair stepping and aerobics)

Put wet clothes in the dryer

Got Benji some lunch

Worked out another 30 minutes

Put Fiona down for a nap (12:15 pm)

Shower, contacts, and hair (12:30 pm)

Played trains with Benji for 30 minutes

Cleaned off back porch and organized the recycling while Benji played in a puddle

Cleaned off Benji after he threw up during a coughing fit

Cleaned vomit off back porch (1:30 pm)

Ate lunch

Got Fiona out of bed (1:35)

Read stories to and played with kids

Started putting away laundry that was already clean

Got Ethan from bus stop

Picked up Benji's friend Zae to come and play

Put into dryer clothes that got wet while walking back from bus stop

Finished putting away that clean laundry

Caught up in Fiona's baby calendar

Got the kids a snack (3:30 pm)

Played with kids in the back room

Cleaned the back bathroom

Straightened and vacuumed boys' room, my room, and Fiona's room

Blew bubbles with kids on back porch (5 pm)

Made dinner

Ate dinner

Cleaned a little in the kitchen

Put kids in bathtub and bathed them

Straightened and vacuumed living room

Got kids out of tub

Cleaned the kitchen

Made the boys finish their dinner

CHAD CAME HOME!!! (7:30 pm)

Finished this blog post

Chad put boys in bed and is now rocking Fiona, aaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Done.

How to Properly Begin the Christmas Season

2011-11-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

1. DO A LITTLE BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING...

Yup, you're seeing that correctly. Ethan is getting a Nintendo DS for Christmas, but let it be known that it's pre-owned.
And Benji's getting a Leapster that I bought for half-price. Here's some games.
2. PAINT YOUR NAILS A HOLIDAY COLOR
Benji did this one for me. Don't worry; I fixed it later.
3. ENGAGE IN A LITTLE DECORATING
... and eat a few ornaments and Christmas hooks. They taste excellent.

P.S. I got all my decorations this year for 75 and 90% off from a little place going out of business. Talk about exciting!

4. BUST OUT THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC.
5. BEGIN ADVENT CELEBRATIONS AND ACTIVITIES ON SUNDAY.

What exactly is advent? you ask. Find out here.

Advent activities and ideas for children here.

This one is old, but it has some fun ideas too.

psychological connections to food

2011-11-07T05:32:00.000-08:00

I think I might be addicted to food. No, seriously, for real. Read this article and tell me what you think. Any other thoughts on psychological connections to foods and cravings? Do you think you have the same issues? How do I start changing this? And I love cooking good food and then eating it, so how do I balance my hobby of cooking with this new information?

Confronting the Psychology of Food Addiction

When you think about an emotionally traumatic experience, like breaking up with your significant other, is your first impulse to eat something to calm down? Do you think about food when facing other stressful scenarios, such as talking to someone you don't particularly like, or even the idea of just getting through your day? If so, you are showing the classic signs of being addicted to food, and as a result, you are probably also overweight. If you resort to eating as way to combat your emotional stress, you have a dangerous psychological addiction that is affecting your physical health. But how do you overcome an addiction to something as necessary as food?
Food addiction, like other addictions, starts in the brain. Physical addiction is always much easier to cure than psychological addiction, because unlike physical addiction, psychological addiction is rooted deep within our neural pathways. We build profound emotional connections with our addiction. Every time we have a stressful feeling, we will automatically start thinking about eating to help combat that stress. This is the brutal truth of addiction.

In the case of food, we are surrounded by it all day, throughout the year. In fact, there are holidays set aside just for eating-such as Thanksgiving-that make food addiction an incredibly difficult disease to cure. How do we teach ourselves to think differently about food? If you will pardon the expression, cold turkey, when it comes to food addiction, is simply not possible. You need to keep eating to survive. But you need to learn how to eat to satisfy your hunger, not your emotional cravings.
As with any addiction, the first step in overcoming food addiction is learning to recognize that you are addicted to food. Once you've made this painfuladmission, your life will become much easier to control. You will begin to see clearly how you've been using food as a way to compensate for your emotions.
Of course, it is rare to be able to make this major breakthrough on your own. You may benefit from having other people to guide you through this process. Finding someone who can motivate you when you feel weak or tired, or when you feel you may be on the verge of a relapse, is invaluable. Learning how to eat in a healthy manner will take time, but it is not impossible. The most difficult step is in confronting the psychology of the addiction, and understanding just how deeply embedded it is.

Once you begin to separate eating from your emotions, you will begin to lose weight and feel better. You will discover that you have the power to control your life without food. You will no longer be ruled by the kitchen, the bathroom scale, or your emotions! The freedom and personal pride that you will experience will add joy to your life, and take inches off your waistline.

The author has many years of experience in theweight loss industry. He has delivered training on weight loss, smoking cessation, and other cognitive based programs.

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://lou.articlealley.com/confronting-the-psychology-of-food-addiction-1285543.html

playing cars

2011-10-22T21:44:00.001-07:00

Benji loves to play with cars. I mean LOVES. He's loved them for a good year and a half. Pretty much every time we go to any store, even the grocery store, he asks, "Are we going to buy a car there?" It makes him really happy when I play cars with him. And I do it, even though it's not my favorite thing. Because it makes him this happy:

Look at that face. What a funny dude. When we play with cars, sometimes it's only 10 minutes, and sometimes it's an hour. There are so many exciting things you can do with cars. We play "car match," where we match them up by color:

Notice how they are in rainbow order; that was me being type-A.
Then we put them on the train table in a line...
...all really close together.
Sometimes we spice it up and place the cars on this nifty fire truck display case thing hanging on his wall.
Then of course, there's "parking garage" to play. We slide them down the twirly part, make them go up the elevator, all kinds of exciting things.
Sometimes we make a "car maze," which means I line up the cars in a maze shape, and then he makes one car go through the maze before destroying it. He also likes to add "dead ends" to the maze, making it impossible to get through it. No problem though; you just jump the car out of the maze to escape it. Didn't you know that all cars can fly if necessary?
There's also lining up some books on the floor to make a road and driving the cars on the road.

And one of his new favorites is "mechanic." That means I take some little guys from our train track set and they own a mechanic shop. Then Benji brings me cars to fix. Here's how it might sound...

Mechanic: Hello, sir. Is your car broken?

Benji: Um, yeah.

Mechanic: Oh, what's wrong with it?

Benji: I dunno. It's just bwoken.

Mechanic: Okay. I'll have it fixed up for you by tomorrow at 3:00. And it'll be $1,430.

Benji: Okay, here you go.

The mechanic turns the car over, bangs on it a few times, says "Hey, Joe, do we have any more fan belts in the supply closet? Oh, good, bring one out," hits the car a few more times, turns it back over, test drives it, then it's done.

Like I said, super exciting. It's definitely an act of love.

I'm so irritated, I don't even know what to title this blog post

2011-10-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Dear whoever wrote the paragraph below,

Well, hurrah for you. You obviously know the value of hard work and motivation; those are excellent traits to have, and they have worked well for you. But your view is short-sighted and not compassionate. It is simple truth that hard work and motivation are not always enough. Lots of people make better than "decent grades" in high school, but still don't get scholarships. Sometimes scholarships are just given for football skills. And perhaps your degree is in something that is very marketable, and you'll have no problem getting a job upon graduation. If that's the case, how lucky you are that your talents and training are in something marketable. You should have compassion towards those whose talents are not in a field with an easy job market. (For example, academics trying to get professorial positions: about 50 of the jobs for which my husband applied last year also had 150-300 other job applicants).

Consider the man who has 6 children while he had a great job. Then he lost his job due to company failure, cannot find another job, spends 60 hours a week working manual labor, and still can't feed his family. Are you saying he's at fault for making poor choices?

We don't have iphones, netflix, or even tv channels. We eat cheaply, my kids share a room, we keep the a/c off when it's not miserably stuffy, but we still are stretched. We almost never buy clothes that are not on sale. We too, "work our asses off" as you say, but we're not going to be able to make it past next May if things stay the same. Are you saying this is our fault because of our "own bad decisions?"

You say you're in college; I'm assuming you don't have a family yet. Since you are still in college, you haven't yet experienced real life. Try having a spouse and children to support, experience the failed market economy, and go through losing a job before you sound so judgmental against people who struggle to make it month to month.

“I am a college senior, about to graduate completely debt free. I pay for all of my living expenses by working 30+ hrs a week making barely above minimum wage. I chose a moderately priced, in – state public university & started saving $ for school at age 17. I got decent grades in high school & received 2 scholarships which cover 90% of my tuition. I currently have 3.8 GPA. I live comfortably in a cheap apt., knowing I can’t have everything I want. I don’t eat out every day, or even once a month. I have no credit card, new car, iPad or smart phone-and I’m perfectly OK with that. If I did have debt, I would not blame Wall St. or the government for my own bad decisions. I live below my means to continue saving for the future. I expect nothing to be handed to me, and I will continue to work my @$$ off for everything I have. That’s how it’s supposed to work. I am NOT the 99% and whether or not you are is YOUR decision.”

http://www.latronbrown.com/2011/10/16/i-am-the-99/

The Tragedy From Which I Could Never Be the Same

2011-10-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

I'm in an amazing women's Bible study at our church. The name of the book and workbook we're using is You Can Become a Saint. It's about becoming holy in our everyday lives. The "theme verse" is Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." If you're a Christian, you have no excuses not to strive for this. We are called to be as holy as we can be. I want to talk more about this study later, because it's really been incredible for me.

There are 18-20 women in our study. And there are five women who are (or who have gone) going through intense trials, physically and spiritually.

One woman (probably about 35 years old) had cervical cancer. She was treated, declared cancer free, then had a negative scan 2 weeks ago.

Another woman has a son who was born with a heart defect. He's never eaten in his life. He won't eat till he's 3 years old. He's been fed through a tube his entire life. He's 1 but looks more like a 5 month old. The mom talked about how the skin around his feeding tube gets irritated and infected. He's not able to crawl, and the mom is very busy with doctor appointments and therapy.

A third woman has a son who had a benign brain tumor the size of an orange. It caused brain damage and he wasn't able to walk, move his arms, talk, or swallow his own saliva. That was over a year ago. Now he can walk with a walker and has relearned talking and eating, but he still has a long way to go.

A fourth woman has a son who was in the hospital extensively. I don't know any more details than that it was something related to his cerebral palsy. For a long time, they didn't know if he was going to live or die. She said that she would pray, and beg God not to let him die, and when she finally was able to say "Thy will be done," she felt a huge burden lift. (He's currently healthy and not hospitalized).

The final woman isn't in our study, but two different people I know know her. She had a 2 month old baby that just died of SIDS. It's probably every mom's worst fear: you wake up in the morning, go to get your baby, and the baby's not breathing.

I'm on the verge of tears just thinking about these ladies. Here's what's scary to me. That out of a group of 20 women, 5 of them have experienced absolute tragedy! HOW BLESSED AM I THAT ALL THREE OF MY CHILDREN ARE COMPLETELY "NORMAL" AND HEALTHY? I've had three easy pregnancies, three complication-free vaginal deliveries, and three completely healthy babies. Already I am blessed beyond measure! But not only that, God has granted me almost 6 years as a mother: that's 6 years of immeasurable joy and indescribable love. There have been literally hundreds of moments that I've sighed a sigh of happiness and thought, "Man I'm lucky! These kids are hilarious/lovable/sweet/amazing."

For the past few weeks, I've been so fearful that something terrible, some tragedy, some test of faith, is around the corner for me. I think about all the terrible things that could happen: cancer, car accident, paralysis, brain aneurysm, and the worst of all:death of a child; anything could happen to us at any time. I've always worried about these things, but lately, I've been really worried. God has spared me from tragedy for so long, who's to say he'll spare me any longer?

The event I fear the most is the death of a child. That is the one tragedy from which I could never completely recover. I literally can't even imagine how dark, how lonely, how slow, how painful each movement would be, if a child died.

I've always been afraid of the process of being made holy. It's almost always a long, painful process. Because we must die to self in order to be holy. And dying to self ain't no picnic. What if God wants to make me more holy and chooses the route of a child's death to get me there?

Sound silly?

I know of at least one other mother who struggles with anxiety issues. She told me about one therapist session where she disclosed all these crazy worries, mostly ones involving her children or herself not being able to care for her children. The therapist told her that these sorts of worries are fairly common in women with young children. So at least there's a therapist out there who wouldn't think I'm crazy!

Very important to note: I ALREADY KNOW THAT GOD HAS CALLED US NOT TO WORRY, NOT TO BE ANXIOUS, TO TRUST IN HIM COMPLETELY. (I mainly wrote that for my mother's sake; otherwise she'd call me up and quote that verse to me. Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition, make known your requests to God" and Matt 6:25-34 where Jesus talks about how the lilies of the field and the birds of the air are cared for by God.). I'm just sayin' this has been a struggle for me lately.

Also very important to note: If I did suffer the incapacitation or death of a child, would I heal? Somewhat. Would I allow God's comfort to soothe me? Yes. Would I become despaired. No. I would grieve atrociously, don't get me wrong. But I would lean on my solid foundation, my true Savior, who knows a thing or two about suffering. But would I ever be the same? No. There would always be a little hole in my life, a scar that would never go away.

I read once in Operating Instructions: A Diary of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott (excellent read!) that she often prayed this simple prayer: "God, please let my son outlive me." I pray that all the time.

**Are there any fears that plague you, specifically involving your children? How do you deal with them?

the Drawer of Delayed Dreams

2011-09-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

WOW! I haven't blogged in nearly 5 months! Shame on me. Here are a few reasons why:

1. I had a baby. Yeah, you knew that already and I had posted some pictures of her on here, but life with three kiddos is BUSY. Things that used to be priorities simply aren't priorities anymore. I constantly feel behind.

2. We moved. Yeah, you already knew that Chad earned his PhD from UCI (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and after spending 9 months looking for a job and applying at over 100 places, he got a job offer. At Auburn University in Auburn, AL. Anyway, MOVING IS STRESSFUL. Just in case ya didn't know. Packing boxes, changing our address at the post office, seeing people one last time, making phone calls about new insurance and old insurance ... it all took so much time. Then the actual move: we drove one day to the Grand Canyon (8 hours of driving=not a good day), one day in the Grand Canyon, one day to Albequerque, one day to Lubbock (TX), 4 days with Chad's parents, 4 days with my parents, one day to Gulf Port (MS), one day to our new place.

Then, moving in, unpacking, finding friends, getting Ethan in school, etc.

Obviously, I've been busy lately. 'Nuf said.

3. The more time that passed, the more I thought "There's no way I can catch up on everything now. Where do I even begin." And you know me: when I feel overwhelmed, sometimes I can't even start.

4. For awhile, I had this crazy idea that I would like to start a real website. You know, one that was a step up from blogspot. So I thought I wouldn't bother with this one anymore anyway till I was done setting up my new one. My new one would have all kinds of cool links, a list of places to go and things to do in Auburn, a collection of stories about my conversion process, some "diary entries" about the mom life, etc. But, seriously, who am I kidding? I don't have time. I was really excited about the idea for about a week. Then I started stressing about it. And who needs stress. Therefore, I'm going to file that idea away in the Drawer of Delayed Dreams until I have more time. The other things that are in the Drawer of Delayed Dreams are:

a. getting an MFA in creative writing

b. getting published

c. learning how to dance

d. cooking my way through another cookbook

e. getting lots of money so I never have to worry about money again

Aaaah. Someday..........

And now an update on my kids:

Ethan started school! I can't believe he's in kindergarten. Yes, I cried, and yes, it's been a hard adjustment for Benji and me with him being gone 8 hours a day. No, it doesn't make my day easier with him gone; well, except that when he's gone, he's not there to fight with Benji all day, so maybe it does make it easier. Man, those kids are at each other's throats these days! (I just checked out Siblings Without Rivalry from the library, and I'm eating it up).

Ethan is 5 1/2 now, he loves computer games, school, bugging his brother, wrestling with Daddy, and other boy things.

Here's my Ethan

his first day of school pose:

Benji is 3 1/2 and is (mostly) potty trained. Just for the last 2 weeks, he's been going on the carpet a lot. Hmmm... But he poos in the potty, which is amazing! He loves watching tv (don't worry; I limit it!), playing his own version of Chinese Checkers, playing cars and parking garage, playdough, reading Curious George stories, and being with me. He's tall and still super active.

Here's my Benji

before his haircut:

and after his haircut:

Fiona is 8 months. She is crawling! She's been crawling about 2 weeks, and is getting faster and faster. She made her first "cross-house" trip yesterday from one end to the other. She puts everything in her mouth, including

1. bars of soap

2. erasers

3. clothespins

4. toilet paper

5. magazines

6. woodchips

7. a little rubber thing she found on the floor

Talk about worrying about the next thing she'll find and choke on!

She has three teeth now, and eats some baby food. She ate an entire jar of squash yesterday night and a jar of bananas the day before that at lunch. She talks to herself and can even say "mamama," although I don't think she knows that's my name.

Here's my Fifers

Now, besides all the comments about how cute my kids are, I'd like to hear what's in YOUR drawer of delayed dreams?

just for fun

2011-05-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

Fabulous recipes!

2011-04-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Sweet potato and brie flatbread

1 pound frozen pizza dough, thawed (I use the whole wheat dough from Trader Joe's)

a little flour or cornmeal for the baking sheet

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

8 sprigs fresh time, chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil (I think I used a little less and it was plenty!)

2 tsp red wine vinegar

4 oz Brie, sliced (I don't know how many ounces the wedges are at Joe's but one wedge is enough).

Heat oven to 400 (on our Verano oven, 375 is plenty hot). Shape the dough into a large oval and place on a flour-dusted baking sheet. In a medium bowl, toss the sweet potato, onion, thyme, oil, vinegar, and a little salt and pepper. Scatter over the dough. Bake for about 15 minutes till the sweet potatoes are tender. Take out, place the slices of Brie over the top, and return to oven for another 5-10 minutes till potatoes are done and cheese is melted.

And now for dessert...

Flourless Chocolate Cake (WARNING: DUE TO THE SCRUMPTIOUSNESS OF THIS CAKE, YOU MIGHT LOSE YOUR ABILITY TO PORTION-CONTROL)

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter (See, that's why it's so delicious!)

1/4 cup cocoa powder, plus more for the pan

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

8 oz bittersweet chocolate chips

5 eggs

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup confectioners sugar (optional)

Heat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch springform cake pan and dust with cocoa powder. In a medium saucepan, heat the butter with 1/4 cup cream over medium-low heat until the butter is melted. Add the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and cocoa powder; whisk in the chocolate mixture. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until puffed and set, 35-40 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 1 hour (if you're patient enough to do so; I can never wait more than 15 minutes). Dust the cake with confectioners sugar if you like.

Using an electric mixture, beat the 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 Tbsp white sugar until soft peaks form. Serve the cake with the whipped cream.

Let me know if you try the recipes and if your tastebuds dance as much as mine do when I make them.

Day of Fasting and Prayer for Chad

2011-04-13T08:44:00.001-07:00

Chad and I are going to have a day of fasting and prayer this Wednesday for him to find a job. Please join us in praying that God will provide an academic job for Chad by the end of the month, preferably a tenure-track position.

There are several different kinds of fasts: a full fast all day, a 12-hour fast (e.g. 6 am to 6 pm), a fast where you eat one normal meal alongside two small meals or snacks (collations), etc. Since I am nursing, I will be doing a modified fast. If you are not able to fast, consider giving up something that day (coffee, chocolate...)

Pray also for all the unemployed people in our nation who are struggling to find work.

Thank you in advance for joining us in this day of prayer! Together, we will make a loud shout to God to provide something for our family.

Six Confessions ... and an excuse for every single one of them

2011-04-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

1. I don't return shopping carts to the cart return unless there's one close to my car. I'm not going to load my kids and the groceries into the car and then walked half a mile to return the cart. It just ain't happenin'. If they want me to put the carts back, they need to make more cart return places in the parking lot.

2. I don't clean out the lint traps in the dryer when my load is finished. There seems to be an unspoken rule in our laundry room that you don't have to clean out the lint trap when your load is done because you've had to clean out someone else's lint before you put your load in. I feel it is unnecessary to clean out lint twice. If everyone started cleaning out their own lint when they're done with their laundry, it would be better. But how to make that happen?

3. I listen to pop music ... that's right, the kind of stuff they play on Kiss FM. Like Justin Beiber, J. Lo, and Katy Perry. Okay, I don't have an excuse for this one.

4. I love to watch shows like E! News and Bridezillas. Chad says they destroy my soul, but they're just so darn entertaining.

5. I pick my nose. Sometimes, you just got to use a finger to get out those pesky boogs when there's not a kleenex within arm's reach.

6. I made a flourless chocolate cake last week and ate a fourth of it in one night. But before you judge, it's not a 9x13 cake; it's made in a springform cake pan, and it's also not very thick, so a fourth is less than you think. But it's still a lot. It's just SO DARN good. It's the best flourless chocolate cake recipe in the world, and it's better than brownies.

If you would like to post a confession here, I'd love to hear it. The juicier and more scandalous, the better!

Sunday Six

2011-02-25T19:52:00.001-08:00

1. First of all, I'm really sad that no one commented on the Taco Town video. Does that mean no one watched it? I'm hurt. It's so, so funny. If you haven't watched it yet, do so. If it doesn't make you laugh, you are taking life way too seriously. "TACO TOWN!!!!"

2. Secondly, I know you're all just dying to know what I did with my hair after I wrote the post about what to do. You probably haven't been able to sleep well not knowing the outcome. So I am here to satisfy your curiosity so that you can sleep again. It's not as short or as drastic of a cut as I was hoping for. The guy who cut my hair last time, when I told him I wanted to go short, he laughed and said, "Ha ha ha! No, honey, that will not look good on you." So he cut it a little shorter than my shoulders. That wasn't enough to satisfy my need to be drastic, so I went to Target afterward, bought some dye and went blond. It's still pretty orange, so I need to do it a few more times before it's a better shade.
In fact, yesterday, someone said I look like Queen Elizabeth the 1st as a young-un. What do you think?

3. Next, it's time to check out my mad crocheting skills! When I was 6 or 7 months pregnant, I got the strongest urge to crochet something. So I made this blanket.
I finally finished it just 2 weeks ago.

And here's Fifi making use of it.

4. And here are some more pictures of the angelic child.Isn't she just gorgeous?! Love her eyes!
Here's her Elvis Presley face:

5. The sleep deprivation is finally catching up with me. For the first 5 weeks, I was going on adrenaline and euphoria. Now, I'm SO SLEEPY. It's really hard for me to wake up in the morning, my eyes feel like lead most of the day, I yawn during the most engaging conversations, and the 2-4 pm time is KILLER. I should be going to bed at 8:30 every night, but after the boys are down, that's my chance to get the things done that I didn't get to do during the day, or to relax and watch something with Chad, which I love doing. So, I've been perpetuating the situation by staying up till 10. And this week, I'm on duty, so I've had to stay up late.

But it sure is nice not to have to get up 6 times a night to go to the bathroom like during pregnancy!

6. Now that I have three kids and an infant to hold most of the day and nurse a lot, I feel behind most of the time. I'm having to learn to be okay with never feeling done with my household work. I'm really trying to work on "living with intention instead of in survival mode" (which I read about in this blog post, which really challenged me) and focusing on my children and having fun with them. It's a work in progress.

Speaking of which, it's time to stop blogging and do something with the fam.

venting

2011-02-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the bitter edge in today's post, folks, but I need to vent a little. Here are some of the things that I did today:

1. Put away a load of laundry that has been sitting in our room for 3 days

2. Brought in a load of laundry from the dryer that had been sitting there overnight

3. Started one new load of laundry that we created yesterday, partially contributed to by Fiona who wet or pooped on her clothes, blankets, and sling three times yesterday

4. Made the bed so I wouldn't feel that everything was so disorganized

5. Finally ate breakfast

6. Went to a friend's house for a playdate and had a great time

7. Totally overate at friend's house (including on nectarine and blackberry cobbler with a buttery topping), thereby destroying my well-intentioned plan of sticking to weight watchers

8. Came home and nursed baby for the 12th time (okay, okay, I don't know if it was actually 12 times, because I'd lost count by then)

9. Told kids to play computer games while I went upstairs and tried to nap

10. Tried to get Fiona to sleep by nursing again, tried to fall asleep myself

11. Got vomited on by Fiona (and so did the bed)

12. Took a shower holding the baby (not sure how clean I got)

13. Laid down on unmade bed and fell asleep while Benji was fussing downstairs

14. Got up and welcomed a dinner from Jackie (THANK YOU!!!!!!), immediately ate 3 of the brownie bites she brought with the dinner

15. INSTEAD OF CLEANING VOMITY SHEETS, PLAYING WITH THE KIDS, OR ENCOURAGING THEM TO CLEAN UP THE HUGE MESS THEY MADE WHILE I WAS FITFULLY SLEEPING, I sat on the couch and crocheted till Chad came home

16. Put away toys, wiped table from dinner, and cleaned a little in the kitchen while holding a baby

17. Started another two loads of laundry for the sheets and bedspread

18. Wrote this blog post while nursing again

Taco Town

2011-02-15T17:01:00.001-08:00

Hair's thinkin'

2011-02-07T17:45:00.001-08:00

Okay, seriously, what IS it about having a new baby that makes people want to cut their hair? Whatever it is, I'm not immune to it; I'm dying to do something absolutely DRASTIC to my hair. Someone ought to do a study about this compulsion; it would be very interesting. But I'll leave that to the scientists.

What I need from you is some help and ideas. Remember that I have three children now and want something I don't have to spend lots of time fixing every morning. Ever since Michelle went bold and cut all of hers off, I've wanted to do the same (Michelle, just remember that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). But can I pull off a look like that? Here are some thoughts:

1. a bob with a straight perm

2. a really short cut like Michelle's

3. a short curly cut with a stacked back and the front a little longer than the back

4. a really layered curly cut that frames my face

5. something with bangs (but since my hair is curly, I would have to blow dry AND straight iron my bangs every morning, and that doesn't sound fun to me)

And color options:

1. red like I've done in the past

2. blond (I've always wondered what it's like to be blond)

3. dark brown

4. leave it natural

Okay, it's time to cast your votes for my new look here in the comments. I have an appointment for Friday evening, so don't delay!

Fiona pictures

2011-01-21T19:19:00.001-08:00

The Baby is Here!!!!

2011-01-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Fiona Bridgette Kidd was born Friday, January 14th at 6.49 am! She was born here at our house, a successful home birth and water birth! (BTW, I thought the water was supposed to work wonders and make you feel significantly less pain .... uh, not so, my friends, not so. Still incredibly painful, but that's another story for another post). Okay, so the labor was 6 hours start to finish! Quite intense. The midwife and the assistant didn't make it till 6 am, and she was born 50 minutes later! Scary.

I'm truly, truly thankful to God that everything worked out perfectly. I read my body's signals enough to know when it was time to call them; they made it on time; I was able to deliver safely and vaginally with no issues. There were no life-threatening issues to either of us. The boys slept through everything and didn't wake up till about 40 minutes after she was born, just as the midwife was done stitching me up. Talk about excelling timing! Fiona is perfectly formed with no visible abnormalities. I'm SO thankful that she is here safely and alive and perfect. What a blessing!!!! And she's a girl too for sure! Nursing is going well, and I'm feeling as well as can be expected ... you other mothers know what I mean. It's been a good day!

You can see a short video of Fiona and me and the boys on my facebook page. Another day, we'll get some pictures up.

Glamour shots ... I mean maternity pictures

2011-01-10T09:07:00.001-08:00

It's funny, but I feel very beautiful now. At the beginning of the pregnancy, my belly was all on the sides, and I just looked fat, not pregnant. Now my belly is all in front, and has a lovely shape, and I feel so good. I'm really enjoying the way I look right now. And it's nice to feel firm and tight around the middle, not squishy and doughy. Once this baby comes out, I'll look like the Pillsbury doughboy again, so I'm trying to really enjoy it now while it lasts.

Here are my glamour shots and a few of the fam:

The Huntington Gardens

2010-12-15T21:08:00.001-08:00

The Huntington Library and Gardens is located in Pasadena, CA. I don't know if anyone even goes there for the library, but the gardens are INCREDIBLE. It was one of the most picturesque places I've ever seen. There are about twenty different gardens, including lily ponds, bamboo clusters, a statue garden, and an Australian garden. We only saw a few of them because the place is so enormous. Here's a taste of some of the areas we walked through.

1. The cactus garden:

2. The Japanese Gardens. Now I don't really believe in Zen, nor do I even know what exactly that means, but look at the next two pictures and tell me you don't feel Zen.

Also in the Japanese Garden are some impressive koi ponds. My children nearly fell into the water about fifteen times.

3. The Chinese Garden.

Again with the Zen! Look at this peaceful place. I feel relaxed just looking at the picture.

And who is this marvelous-looking creature? I must meet her.
4. The Rose Garden.

INFORMATION FOR GOING TO THE GARDENS: Don't ever pay full price; I think it's $15 a person or something. Once a month, they have a free day. You have to have tickets for free day, but the tickets are free, and you can order them online or by phone one month before the free day. You have to be online or on the phone EXACTLY at 9 am on the day they give away tickets. Then you simply show up with your free tickets and have a great time. Every person (including infants) needs a ticket for free day. You can order up to 5 tickets for free day. Check here to see information for getting tickets for the next free day.

I recommend every SoCal resident go at least once before you leave California! Thanks, Jackie (queen of all SoCal excursions!), for the information about free day.

"End of year tipping" ... are you kidding me?

2010-12-02T12:30:00.001-08:00

This is an article I copied from Yahoo that was published for US News and World Report. Skim it and tell me if you are as flabbergasted as I am! Sorry, friends, I most certainly AM NOT going to tip my mailman $20.

The New Rules for End-of-Year Tipping

Kimberly Palmer, On Tuesday November 30, 2010, 12:12 pm EST

Few rituals are more awkward than end-of-year tipping. How much do you give your trainer at the gym? What about your regular postal worker or newspaper delivery service? Or parking lot attendants? The list of potential recipients is probably longer than your holiday shopping list, but the decision about how much to spend can be much more stressful because there's so much uncertainty over how much, and who, to tip.

Here's a guide to making sure that you tip well but not wastefully--and that you still have a happy trainer, newspaper delivery person, and parking lot attendant in the new year.

Postal workers: Postal workers cannot receive any more than $20 in cash, which is an appropriate tip during the holidays, says Judith Bowman, founder of Protocol Consultants International. You can also give more personal gifts, such as baked goods or a gift certificate (under $20 in value, of course).

Personal caregivers, such as daycare teachers: Cash gifts are definitely appreciated and, in some cases, expected. Consider joining up with other parents to give each teacher $100 to $300. Think of it more as a holiday gift than a tip.

Doormen of residential buildings: Plan on giving each worker at least $20 and sometimes closer to $100, depending on the type of building and its traditions. Ask long-time residents or the building manager if you're unsure. Throughout the year, if the doorman provides extra service, such as bringing up your groceries, then tip between $5 and $10 per trip.

Cleaning service provider: Give the value of one visit. If you usually pay $100 per week, then give at least an extra $100 around the holidays.

Regular hairstylist, trainer, aesthetician, and other service providers: Similar to the cleaning service recommendation, consider giving a tip equal to the value of one visit. This guideline only applies to people you see regularly (more than once a month). Otherwise, a 20 percent tip per visit without an additional holiday boost is standard.

[For more money-saving tips, visit the U.S. News Alpha Consumer blog.]

Newspaper delivery person: A gift of between $10 and $20 or more in an envelope will help show your appreciation for all those cold and rainy mornings you can pick up your paper without getting dressed.

Garbage collectors: This thankless job often gets overlooked at tipping time, but consider giving each worker at least $20. If you leave extra garbage any time throughout the year, then leave an additional $10 to $20 for their effort.

Skycaps, porters, and hotel doormen you meet along your holiday travels: The skycap at the airport typically gets $2 to $3 per bag, says Bowman. If you are running late and they are of particular assistance, then add $1 to $2 per bag. A flat $20 goes a long way in saying "thank you." When in doubt, always tip up. As for doormen at hotels, tip anywhere from $2 to $5. For housekeeping services, tip $1 to $2 per night. There is usually a hotel-provided envelope that you can use for this purpose.

People to skip: Here's some good news for your budget. There's no need to tip the owner of an establishment (such as a hair salon), salaried staff (such as salespeople), full-service gas attendants, furniture delivery people (charges are included), or a flower delivery person, says Bowman.

Final word of advice: Tipping 10 to 15 percent is old-school, says Bowman. The new standard is 20 percent and up. And if you're a regular customer at a restaurant, you might want to consider leaving more to guarantee you get good service on each visit. After all, says Bowman, the literal translation of "to tip" is "to ensure promptness."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-New-Rules-for-EndofYear-usnews-1978037488.html?x=0

Christmas early

2010-11-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

First of all, I have to say that I'm very flustered by Blogspot. I wrote a post a week ago with a yummy recipe, and I remember pushing "publish post," but when I checked my blog yesterday, it had completely disappeared and wasn't even anywhere to be found under "edit posts" or "drafts." Weird, huh? Well, I'm not spending another 20 minutes writing that recipe again, but here goes a tirade on how early marketers begin Christmas:

Every year, I never fail to be annoyed with how early it begins. It's as soon as Halloween is over; most stores seem to completely skip over Thanksgiving. They go straight from Halloween decorations to Christmas decorations. I started seeing tv ads for "the perfect Christmas gift" and "K-Mart lawaway" a few days after Halloween. Or was it before Halloween was even over? And now the light rock radio station has already started playing Christmas music! It's not even a month before Christmas, and Thanksgiving is not till next week! It's like Thanksgiving is something to get overwith, if not skip it altogether.

It's obnoxious to me that companies have turned Christmas into a consumerist buy-fest. They've made it all about buying and getting ahead on that long Christmas shopping list and not stressing because you can now get that expensive-looking gift for 33% off. I HATE the consumerist aspect of Christmas because I know that for stores and businesses, it's all about making money.

Now, don't get me wrong. The day after Thanksgiving, I get out my Christmas tree, put up the Christmas wreath, and start listening to Christmas music. And I even enjoy being at the mall around Christmas: seeing the bustle, smelling the Christmasy scents, seeing the decorations, and generally loving the atmosphere. I LOVE Christmas. And I love to buy things for Christmas from those businesses.

But the difference is that Christmas means so much to me because of the celebration of Jesus' birth, whose life and existence on earth as a man gives my life its meaning. I enjoy giving presents to others because it's a way I show love to people I care about, a way to pass on Christ's love and his gift to me. For me, there is deep spiritual meaning in Christmas and in buying presents. For the marketers, there is no meaning apart from a bigger paycheck.

It makes me sad to think about the emptiness of that.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh here. I'd love to hear your opinions about the business side of Christmas. Do they start it too early? Is it okay for people to want to skip over Thanksgiving (whose purpose is to focus on thanking God for all of our blessings) in order to get on to a more exciting holiday that has been consumerized? Do you think Christmas has been over-consumerized?

existing mom-brain + pregnant-brain = no brain

2010-10-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy has made me so stupid. I forget to call people back; I don't give dinner a thought till 5:30 p.m.; I can't remember my own children's birthdays without really having to think about it. Here are only two examples of my recent absentmindedness (there are many more, but I've forgotten them all).

1. Sunglasses. I had a great pair ($10 from H&M) that I had for about a month. Then they somehow got lost. I have NO IDEA where, seriously, NO IDEA. I bought another pair for $12 at the pharmacy and had them about 5 days when we went to Disneyland. I took them off at the Buzz Lightyear ride and laid them next to me on the seat. And, you guessed it, I got off the ride and left them there. Luckily, when I went back half an hour later, they'd been found and I got them back. Whew.

2. Gift cards. This one is so embarrassing. This is the pinnacle of my stupidity. Last Saturday was Verano's Welcome Day, and I had to go out with other h.a.'s beforehand to solicit donations from local businesses to give away as prizes at Welcome Day. On the day, I entered all of our names into the drawing for prizes. Ethan won a prize to a gelatto place: two T-shirts and two $5 gift cards for gelatto. I was so excited! The T-shirts were rolled up with a piece of paper wrapped around them and the gift cards attached to the paper. At home, I took the papers off the shirts to show Ethan what the shirts looked like. Later, I walked by the table and saw the upside down papers on there. I thought Why did I leave that trash there on the table? I'm throwing it away. And I did. And Chad took out the recycling. Later that evening, I said, "Where are those gift cards anyway? ... OH MY GOSH! What have I done?"

I felt so upset that my amazing husband actually climbed into the recycle dumpster with a flashlight for nearly half an hour to look for them. No luck. I still can't believe I did something so stupid. There's nothing worse than throwing away money. I almost feel sick to my stomach thinking I did that.

So, now here's YOUR job. Please share with me the most absent-minded thing you did during pregnancy, or since being a mom, so that I will feel better about myself. I really need it. Thanks.

Hilarious kids' answers to a question

2010-10-02T10:40:00.001-07:00

Ethan's preschool teacher typed this up and sent a copy home to all the kids. It's REALLY funny. The funniest part is that only a few kids answered the question. They all went off on tangents that are hilarious.

Tuesday, September 28
Today we discussed how hot it was and then we talked about all the seasons. Ryder told us it is fall. Next, we read a wonderful book entitled All Falling Down by Gene Zion. All this led to our question of the day: Why do leaves fall from the trees?

Sarah: because it's a different season, like Spring. I have an avocado tree. They are really yummy. I eat avocados with sauce.

Cassidy: It's because of the wind. We don't have any trees at my house, but we have pretty white flowers.

Colin: The wind does it. Sometimes I see them fall. There are trees in the jungle, and monkeys like to live in the trees. They live at the zoo too.

Gage: Because it's hot and the leaves turn red and orange. We have a bunch of trees in our garden. It's fun to pile them up and jump on them.

Ian: It's because it got really windy. I'm going to paint a green leaf.

Ethan: The wind blows really hard. I have a tree that I can climb up. It has lots of little round things I can pick off. I can climb to the tippity top of that tree.

Shay: I'm not sure, but the wind makes them go down.

Garrett: I have a tall tree at my house, but it's the wind that makes the leaves go.

Ryder: Because it's fall and Halloween is in the fall too. I'm going to be a shark for Halloween. We can't have it at school because it starts at night time.

Yosemite and Sequoia

2010-09-17T09:36:00.001-07:00

If you want to see all of the Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks pictures, go here (you have to be a friend of facebook though). Here are just a few highlights.

Monday, September 13th: left Irvine at 11 something. Drove for HOURS, stopped at Sonic for lunch!!!! It took 7 hours of driving time to arrive in Yosemite, plus 1 hour and 15 minutes of stop time for the kids. Arrived after dark at 7 something. Ate dinner at one of the Curry Village eateries, unloaded the car, and finally got to bed at around 9. Stayed in a yert (sp?) in Curry Village. The first night, I swear I heard a bear growl, then heard a horrible noise that sounded like someone being attacked and mauled by a bear. Chad says it was a recording the rangers play to scare the bears away. Heard it again later that night. Also had to get up a few times to go potty in the middle of the night, but was way too scared to walk to the bathroom, so went by the tent. The kids slept great and slept all night. Got down to about 45 degrees, COLD!

Tuesday, September 14th: Got up at 7 am, thanks kids. Didn't get going till about 10 am though. Drove to a trail head and walked the Lower Yosemite Falls hike (about 1 mile).
Then attempted Upper Yosemite Falls trail, trying only to reach the second viewpoint at 1.5 miles. That mile took TWO hours; it was very steep. Every time we stopped to rest, the kids enjoyed throwing rocks down the path.
Gave up at the 1-mile viewpoint and turned back.

On the way back down, we saw a BEAR! It was so cool to see one. It was a teenage-aged bear, we decided, only in view for about 5 seconds before he disappeared over the rocks. That made that horrible hike worthwhile. Finally made it to the bottom and rode the shuttle to El Capitan and watched the mountain climbers while the kids played in the river below. There is a man with cerebral palsy who's never walked in his life who is climbing El Capitan; I'll write about him in another post.

Cooked our own hotdogs with chili and made smores for dinner. Actually got to take a shower today!

Wednesday, September 15th: Woke up at 7:30 (yay!). Hope saw an 8-point buck just chillin by the registration center at Curry. Drove an hour to a different area of the park to hike Taft Point, a 1.2 mile walk. We took it easy on the way there and stopped a lot to climb on rocks, etc. It was a steady downhill walk. At the end of it, there is an AMAZING viewpoint from up about 7,000 feet into a valley. Very beautiful and very scary. Chad kept wanting to get close to the edge with the kids; talk about a mother's nightmare! Ate a picnic there (away from the edge!) and then started back. An extremely nice man offered to carry one of the kids for me on his shoulders; God bless him; I never would have made it back otherwise. We walked back with his group, a group of Georgians who goes hiking all over the world (e.g. Peru, Norway, Cinque Terre, etc). The group leader is named Tom (I think the last name is Dennard), who's written a book called Ramblin' Man, which I've actually heard of before! When I met him and told him that, he said he'd mail me a copy of the book! Cool. I think this is it here.

Drove back to the valley and walked to Bridalveil Falls (a really short walk), then the kids played in the brook below. Then drove back to El Capitan so I could see that guy again (he'd made progress!), and the kids got extremely dirty playing in the dust and the river below. Ate dinner back at Curry Village, took showers (aahhhh!), and went to bed.

Thursday, September 16th: Pack up our tent while the kids climbed on rocks (I think all the pants I packed for them have holes in the bums where they slid down rocks on their bottoms). Left Yosemite at about 9:30 and drove to Sequoia National Park. We stopped at scenic overlook for a break, then drove to the General Sherman hike. That was really incredible: a grove of really, really HUGE trees, and "General Sherman," the largest Sequoia tree in the world, and the largest (by density) tree in the world.

Then we drove through the rest of the park and saw more amazing trees, mountains, rivers, and other scenery. We were too late to make it to Crystal Cave though. :(

Then we drove all the way back to Irvine, FINALLY making it back after 10 pm.

It was a GREAT trip; we made lots of good memories, and the kids loved camping and being dirty and climbing on rocks. But, I'm so glad to be home!

Girls, vegetable scales, and toilet paper

2010-08-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'm ashamed that it's taken me so long to write a follow-up post to my previous one. The main reason I didn't is because I posted the results of the ultrasound on facebook, so most everyone found out that way. I am EXTREMELY happy to announce that we are going to have a girl! I feel so "lucky" to be given a daughter, and I am so happy that everything on the 20-week ultrasound looks healthy and great. I truly am grateful to God for all the blessings He's given me.

The other reason I haven't posted about this is because the thought of scanning in pictures made me feel overwhelmed for some reason. But it was totally painless; I did it!

Here are some pictures of the little peanut. The first one is her footprints.

And this is her little face. If you can't tell, the chest cavity is on the left. The forehead, nose, and lips are on the right. She's kind of squished in there.

And now, some other great news. You know the fruit and veggie scales at the grocery store? Well, I found out I've been reading them wrong all these years! Yep, that's right, I've been reading the kilogram side! (what was I supposed to think; it's in red, and red attracts more attention!) No wonder all those "medium butternut squash, about 2 lbs" that I was getting for recipes always seemed underweight. And all those grapes I didn't buy because they were $1.99 a pound but weighed what I thought was 4 lbs?! Never again!

How embarrassing.

And the other interesting bit of the week is that I'm going to try more expensive toilet paper. I've always bought the cheap, lousy, thin, scratchy stuff that aggravates my hemorrhoids and that I have to use twice as much of because it's not absorbent. But, last time at Target, I forced myself to buy the pack of Angel Soft (or whatever it's called) that costs $12 instead of $8, and I can hardly wait to use it. I'll let you know about the results.

Daughters

2010-08-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

I want a daughter very, very, very, very much. Most of you know this. But some people have been ridiculously disparaging, rude, and insensitive about my desire. Here's what various people have said about it:

"At least you won't have to pay for a girl's wedding."

"Be glad if you don't have a girl. Girls are just drama."

"As long as it's healthy, it doesn't matter what it is."

"Be careful what you wish for. My daughter was ...."

"Be grateful for what you have."

"At least you won't have to go out at buy girl stuff."

Why would people say such discouraging things about girls? And why do people tell me what I should and should not want?

I WANT to pay for a girl's wedding and be involved in helping her plan one. I WANT to go by pink and purple onesies. Yes, girls are more drama in general, but so worth it. Yes, I will be extremely grateful if my child is healthy, but does that mean I can't pine for a certain gender?

I love my two boys BEYOND MEASURE, and I'm so grateful that God has given them to me. I'm so glad that I had two boys together, close in age. I think they'll grow up close, they can share a room, they'll be less lonely with each other, etc.

But now that I'm going to have another child, I would really like to have a girl. I would really like to experience that mother-daughter relationship. Most moms I know treasure their girls and have a bond with them that is very different from the bonds with their sons. I want to experience that. I would love to pick out a girl name, and buy girl clothes, and (hopefully) still be close to her when she grows up and marries and has children. Boys generally leave their parents more than girls do.

My desire: Is it immoral or unethical to desire a daughter? Absolutely not. In the Bible, children are described as blessings to be grateful for (Matt 19:4, Mark 10:14, Mark 10:16, Psalm 127:5), and nowhere does it say or insinuate that one sex is more valuable than the other. Is it okay to be obsessed about it? No. Do I need to thank God for my blessings whether it's a boy or a girl? Absolutely. And I will ... eventually.

If I have another son, I will probably go through a grieving period because I will feel disappointed and sad not to have a daughter. I don't think that will be a bad thing. My feelings of disappointment will be valid, and I should be allowed to have them and process them so that I can get to a point where I am happy to have another little boy in my house. Even King Solomon knew that disappointments and desires are real: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life" (Prov 13:12). So, yes, if I find out it's another boy, my heart will feel sick for a short time. Please allow me these emotions and don't tell me how to feel.

I'm going on Sunday to an ultrasound school for one that costs $25. I'll post the results when I can.

Sick heart or tree of life?

Sprinkled Eggs and a Belly Pic

2010-07-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Benji's been eating scrambled eggs for the last few mornings for breakfast. He calls them "sprinkled eggs." It's adorable, and it makes me laugh.

Secondly, here's my very first belly pic! It was taken at 14 weeks. Let me just remind you that with my first pregnancy, I was BARELY showing at 14 weeks and didn't start wearing maternity clothes till around 20 weeks. Not this time.

Also, don't forget to notice my new hair cut and color.

Over the Hill

2010-07-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

My 30th birthday is one month away and fast approaching. I dread turning 30. It seems like it's the top of the hill and the rest of my life will be down the other side of that hill. I remember being 16 and 18 years old and seeing a 30-year old and thinking, "Wow, 30 is so old. I'm glad I'm still young." I don't feel that old, but I think the numbers are telling. And anyone who's over 30 and reading this will probably think, "Oh please, you're just a baby." But let's get real here, people. Thirty is no baby. I've been alive for 30 years. That's a really long time.

In fact, the other day, Chad said "...back when we were young and in love. Well, we're still in love, but we're not young anymore." I was washing my hands, so I flicked water on his face and said, "Speak for yourself!" But he's right.

And it's starting to show. The lines on my face aren't very bad, thanks to years of anti-aging products, but they're there. And I've got some new spider veins on my legs (that's probably more due to pregnancy, but still). And my breasts sag down half way to my belly button (that's more breastfeeding for a total of 46 months, but still).

I'm not young and spry anymore. I can't stay up much past 10 pm, and I don't like to get up the next morning. I get back pain, and my body gets tired much more quickly than it did 5 years ago. I already have high cholesterol, thanks to some bad genes and my love of butter. That's only going to get worse with age, my cholesterol I mean, not my love of butter.

And my evil metabolism slowed down by about 50 miles an hour. Here's a confession I've told few people because it's so awful: Right from when I turned 29 (last August) till I got pregnant in April, I gained 8 pounds! Eight pounds in 6 months! Didn't change my eating habits at all and was still working out 4-5 days a week for an hour or more each time. Just turned 29, that's all. Lousy metabolism!

Oh, and I STILL HAVE PIMPLES!!!!!! If I'm going to be old, can't I at least have a clear face? What the heck?

And I still haven't published a single thing! (Except for a poem in a totally random Canadian magazine, so that doesn't really count). I've got to finish all those novels I've started and work on publication. In fact, in my long life, I've accomplished nothing at all of significance, aside from having two children and raising them reasonably well (which is a pretty big accomplishment).

All you optimists out there will probably respond, "Be happy. Thirty is the prime of life. Wait till you're forty. Then your metabolism will really slow down, and your body will really not feel young and spry. Forget about ever running a half-marathon again then. Enjoy the life you have right now." Most of me realizes that this is true. I'm sure after awhile of being 30, I'll feel better about it. But right now, with those horrible numbers looming before me, I don't like it. I don't want to be over the hill. I don't want other 16 year olds looking at me and thinking, "Eww, she's old."

I think the only advantage to being 30 is that I'll be taken slightly more seriously. Once you're in your 30's, it's kind of like you've arrived, you're a real adult; not one of those people in her 20's, wavering between teenage-hood and adulthood.

Big Accomplishment

2010-07-08T18:36:00.001-07:00

Over two years ago, for Christmas, Chad gave me a cookbook: Barefoot Contessa Family Style. I thought I would cook through it so I could learn a lot and become a better cook. This was long before anyone had ever heard of Julie and Julia, so don't think I'm just a big copy cat.

Well, two and a half years later, I'm done! Tonight, I cooked the last of 79 recipes! Now, if you're not familiar with the Barefoot Contessa, she does write easy, four-ingredient recipes that take 30 minutes to do. They're usually complicated, full of ingredients (often expensive), and take lots of cook time. So, I think this is quite an accomplishment. Chad has enjoyed it as well. The kids...well, they don't really care.

I've learned SO much cooking through this cookbook. I've learned what annis, fennel, rutabagas, stilton, endives, wheatberries, brioche, and tabbouleh are. (Many times throughout this endeavor, I had to ask the grocers what the heck something was and where to find it). And I've created many amazing dishes, such as buffalo wings, herb-roasted lamb, rosemary polenta, corn pudding, roasted winter vegetables, rum raisin rice pudding, and homemade cheesecake.

Here are recipes to some of my favorites, available online for you to print and try yourself:

curried chicken salad (the first time Chad tasted this, he said, "Oh, Hope, I think I'm falling in love with you all over again)

chicken stew with biscuits (this one is so amazing because it calls for 2 sticks of butter!)

linguine with shrimp scampi (this one is really easy)

baked "chips" (even my kids like this one)

garlic sauteed spinach

raspberry cheesecake (OMG! This is TRULY incredible!)

banana sour cream pancakes

frozen key lime pie (Y-U-M)

challah French toast

birthday sheet cake

Happy cooking, friends!

I dream of Ranch

2010-06-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

I think I have an official pregnancy craving. I think about it night and day. I want chicken (breaded and fried of course) and french fries dipped in Ranch dressing. I've only had that once since I've been pregnant, with my friend Karen at Chick fil-A. But now I can't stop thinking about it. And since that's so unhealthy, a forbidden fruit, it makes it even more desirable.

Not just any old chicken strips will do, my friends. Not McDonald's nuggets; they're not even real chicken. And not the dinosaur-shaped nuggets from Costco that my children eat. I want high-quality chicken, deeply breaded, and fried just right. Like Chick fil-A, or Honey's, or even Wing Stop chicken wings. And Hidden Valley Ranch just won't do; I need restaurant Ranch. It's not as thick, and it's so much tastier.

So next time any of you want to go to Chick fil-A, make sure you call me. If I find out you went without me ...

Mystery Happiness

2010-06-10T12:21:00.001-07:00

Can you guess what it is?

Fun with photo booth

2010-06-07T08:34:00.001-07:00

Don't you just love Macs?

FREE SUMMER KIDS' MOVIES IN ORANGE COUNTY

2010-05-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

OMG, can't wait for this to start!!!! Every year, several theaters throughout Orange County offer FREE kids' movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for 9 weeks during the summer. I love to go to the Spectrum and then let my kids play in the fountain near the food court (and of course get pizza). Here's the list for the Spectrum. I'm not sure if they show both movies on both days, or if they show the first listed one on Tuesday and the second on Wednesday. Usually, the first one is more for younger kids, and the second one is for kids a little older.

Irvine Spectrum 21 & IMAX 65 Fortune Drive Irvine ,CA 92618 949-450-4920
06/22/2010-06/23/2010	Tale Of Despereaux - DP (G)
	The Spy Next Door - DP (PG)
06/29/2010-06/30/2010	Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - DP (G)
	Shorts - DP (PG)
07/06/2010-07/07/2010	Charlotte's Web - DP (G)
	Imagine That - DP (PG)
07/13/2010-07/14/2010	Kit Kittredge: American Girl - DP (G)
	Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel- DP (PG)
07/20/2010-07/21/2010	Space Chimps - DP (G)
	Aliens In The Attic - DP (PG)
07/27/2010-07/28/2010	Horton Hears A Who - DP (G)
	Night At The Museum II - DP (PG)
08/03/2010-08/04/2010	Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs - DP (PG)
	Where The Wilds Things Are - DP (PG)
08/10/2010-08/11/2010	Monsters Vs. Aliens - DP (PG)
	Paul Blart: Mall Cop - DP (PG)
08/17/2010-08/18/2010	Hotel For Dogs - DP (PG)
	Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs - DP (PG)
08/24/2010-08/25/2010	Madagascar 2 - DP (PG)
	The Spiderwick Chronicles - DP (PG)

If you don't live near the Spectrum, try this website and find the closest ones to you:

http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx?state=CA

Stress-case

2010-05-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

Is anyone else super stressed out? And feel like you're busy ALL the time no matter what you do? I literally have not stopped moving since 6:10 am, when Benji woke up, but I feel like I'm not even close to getting my stuff done.

I'm behind two issues on our news magazine.
I have 4 more phone numbers to call for the first time for Ethan's preschool to ask for donations. And I left messages with the other 7 businesses, WHICH TOOK ME ALMOST AN HOUR, so I'll have to follow up with them again. Extremely obnoxious.
This morning I finished up two ugly giant display boards for the International Festival tomorrow. They look like a 2nd grader made them, and it looks like a sloppy 30 minutes of work, but no, I spent literally 2 1/2 hours on each one. That's right, 5 hours of work for an ugly board that looks cheesy. I'm a little bitter about this, yes.
Also this morning, I did finish writing thank you notes for Benji's birthday presents, so I guess that's good.
I'm in the process of reading two long websites about caring for our new guinea pigs. I have to read them, then sign a contract saying I read them. I estimate that will take me another 30 minutes to read them. Great.
I've been trying to clean the house for days ... literally. I can usually get one tiny area done, then it's either destroyed by children, or I get distracted by the hundreds of other things to do. I HAVE GOT TO finish cleaning this weekend. Our house looks like a tornado came through.
Oh, and there's the never-ending laundry! I put away two clean loads today that have been sitting in the basket for 4 days, but now I have two more loads to put away. Gosh, how I hate laundry. I will die of joy the day we have a washer and dryer in our house. But then I wouldn't ever get to experience the wonder of washing IN my house, so I guess I won't die. I'll just be giddy with happiness.
And tonight, I have to shop for ingredients for sadza and relish for the International Festival tomorrow.
On that note, I'll be at the International Festival tomorrow from 9 am till 3 pm. Then back at the Old Rec Ctr again for about 2 hours that night for the outdoor movie. I love my job, don't get me wrong, but on occasion, it makes me feel overwhelmed.
And I just spent 15 minutes writing this post. But that's okay, at least, it will be if at least 3 people read it; that would make it worthwhile.

Okay, so after all that complaining, I have a question. For those of you who feel balanced in your life, and who are able to keep up with your chores and housework and paperwork and bills and reading and general what-not, HOW DO YOU DO IT???? I need help, really; I feel like I'm drowning in busyness. And I don't want to be that way. I want to focus more on my kids and being an available mommy. Not a mommy who says, "Just a minute" or "Not right now; I'm busy" all the time. Who wants a mommy like that?

Cutest Blog on the Block ... my foot!

2010-05-02T23:07:00.001-07:00

I've tried three separate times to do a background on my blog from cutestblogontheblock.com. It won't work. I've tried it from Safari and from Firefox. I follow the directions exactly. What am I doing wrong? Someone help! My blog is so ugly and I want it to be cute like everyone else's.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Banana Smoothie

2010-04-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Are you salivating already? I am. Here's all you need:

1 scant cup of skim milk

1 Tbsp peanut butter

2 Tbsp Ovaltine

1 banana

2-3 ice cubes if you want

I mix it all together in my Magic Bullet, but a blender would work just fine.

It's 320 calories, which is kind of a lot for breakfast, but it's so darn delectable, it will make you happy for the rest of the day.

Yes, you too can be THIS happy:

if you drink this smoothie.

Die, LOST, die!

2010-04-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, I haven't blogged in forever. And that I'm finally doing it, it will not be a happy post. It will be a post of how much I hate LOST. Seriously, that show is so lame. It's so confusing, what with the alternate life and who's alive and who's impersonating who, and which dead people are showing up, etc, etc. I can't remember what happened in the previous show, so when I watch a new show, I ask Chad a hundred questions, and he gets irritated.

Okay, the alternate universe thing. WHAT. THE. HECK? Come on, writers of LOST, can't you do something better with your time...like answer our questions about the show?

Oh, and all that advertised nonsense of "only 5 episodes left, questions will be answered" is such a lie. Instead of answering our questions, they bring in new characters (the Tina-Fey-wanna-be), blow up old ones (Nadya) instead of telling the secrets behind them, and create new mysteries.

And the thing about the show that bugs more than anything else is when the characters have hair in their faces. Okay, come on. In real life, no woman wandering around on a dessert island with no shampoo, high humidity, tracking through thick jungle, and fighting off attackers is really going to go around with her hair down...hanging in her eyes. I can't stand it. Take this for instance. Claire, get your hair out of your face!!!

And Kate, is this REALLY necessary? Obviously, you need to redo your ponytail because half of your hair has fallen out and is BLURRING YOUR VISION.

And Sawyer's just as bad as the girls. I don't even know how he and Kate can kiss with all that hair in their faces.

The saddest thing is that I've wasted 5 years of my life on this show, I'm SO ready for it to be over, but I just know that the writers are going to have some super lame ending and that they won't answer all the questions. We'll be left with our mouths hanging open, our eyebrows up, and saying, "What? THAT was the ending??" The only solution: die, LOST.

The Winner

2010-03-21T19:44:00.001-07:00

I had a very hard time deciding who should win the blog give away, my cookbook. All the comments were very nice, and I just can't pick one over the other. So I've decided to give the cookbook to the first person who made a comment, Emily W. Congratulations, Emily! All the rest of you should invite yourselves over to Emily's house sometime for some good cookin'! :)

Super Cool Giveaway!

2010-03-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Last year, I spent from January to September creating new recipes, testing them, taking pictures of the finished product, and then eating delicious food. What I was doing was creating a cookbook for a Christmas present for family and close friends. I got the idea from Michelle who did it the previous year.

My recipe book has 79 recipes including appetizers, soups, salads, vegetarian, desserts, and main dishes. There are color photos of every single recipe. It's valued at $19; that's what it cost me to make each one. It's pretty darn cool if I do say so myself.

I have one left, and the bad news is that it's sitting un-used and unappreciated on my bookshelf, but the good news is that one of you can have it! Leave me a comment convincing me that you should be the lucky winner. If you live away from Irvine, I'll mail it to you.

I will decide the winner on Sunday, March 21st.

Whine Online

2010-02-28T07:49:00.001-08:00

Today, I do not want to be a mother (which is really ironic because in my last post, I was feeling so grateful for all the wonderful things God has given me). I really do love my kids, don't get me wrong, but lately, I'm so frustrated with Ethan. I'm almost at my wit's end with him. He seems like such an angry child lately. For example, when we're playing games, I let him win about half the time (sometimes more); but when he doesn't win, he screams "I WANTED TO WIN!" and throws things around. He'll grab a toy from Benji, and when Benji cries, Ethan yells "STOP CRYING, BENJI!" He's very disrespectful to Chad and me, saying things like "I will never come to dinner. I will never eat that. I will never go upstairs. I will never take a bath." He is disciplined, sometimes with a time out, sometimes with a loving but serious talking-to, sometimes with a spanking. No matter what the discipline, it seems to make him more angry.

Someone told me that around this age (4), they go through a very selfish phase. That's fine, but I still have to teach him not to be so selfish and to be respectful.

What's the root problem? Does he feel like I don't love him enough? I tell him more than once a day that I love him. I try my hardest to be patient and loving at all times (even when I discipline).

If we're not at Disneyland or watching a movie or if he's not at preschool, Ethan asks me constantly, "Mommy, will you play with me? Mommy, will you play with me?" I really hate the imagination play he loves to do. Here's how it goes: we each get a transformer, a Lego man, or a Batcave inhabitant; we make them talk to each other, a bad guy comes along, they fight off the bad guy, they talk some more, the bad guy comes back, they fight him off again, blah blah blah. It's SO BORING! But I do it because he loves it. When he asks me to play with him, I'll set the timer, and say, "I'll play with you for 20 minutes, then I have to..." When the time is up, he begs for more and gets upset when I say no.

My kids are not into crafts, coloring, play-do, puzzles, Candy Land. It's all imagination play with Ethan, and I despise it.

WHAT DO I DO? How do I play with him without hating it while I'm doing it? How do I teach this child that it's okay not to win? That it's not okay to throw things around? How to be respectful to his parents and to other children?

Any advice appreciated. If you have a lot to say, call me.

Dear God

2010-02-23T14:44:00.000-08:00

I don't thank you nearly enough. I don't praise you nearly enough. I don't appreciate you nearly enough. And for those, I am sorry. But let me begin to fix that right now.

Thank for you my children. I have never had a miscarriage (that I know of); I have never experienced infertility; I have had two wonderful vaginal births. I have never lost a child. Thank you that my children are alive, healthy, happy, and cognizant. Thank you for the unexplainable joy that I experience through them. My life is so much fuller and beautiful because of them. Thank you.

Thank you for my husband. Thank you that he is living, healthy, enjoys being home with his family. Thank you that he loves you, seeks to serve you, desires to be a holy man. Thank you that he is faithful and loyal and that he loves me and has patience with me. The longer I live and the more lousy husbands I meet, the more I'm grateful to you for giving me a husband as loving and helpful as Chad.

Thank for you always providing for us. I should never complain about our finances because you have never let us down in that area. Especially after reading an article about the devastation in Haiti, I'm so grateful that I have a standing home with a roof and walls. A kitchen with electricity, two window units, a heater. I get to take a shower every day. How much do I take that for granted?! We eat meat several times a week; we don't have to eat the same foods every day like some people do. We have tons of toys for our children, a computer, shelves of books, a tv and DVD player. My children have never wanted for a clean diaper, diaper rash cream, food to eat, or clean clothes. Thank you so much for all these material possessions that make my life easy and simple and comfortable.

And finally, but certainly not lease, thank you for life. For the promise of eternal life, the promise of being in your presence for ever! The promise of seeing loved ones again, of a perfect body, of no pain. I will lack nothing; everything will be complete. I usually take for granted that you "sent your son to save us from our sins." Then I stop and think about it. Would I give up one of my children for someone? No. But you did because you love me that much. You love ME! You sent Christ to cover for my sins, so that I can be with you someday. I look forward to that, to being in my forever home, near to you. Thank you for forgiving me.

Mini-van advice desperately needed

2010-02-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, folks, it's for real this time. Our old car (a 1988 BTW, so when I say "old," I really mean old) is at death's doorstep. We're going to get a new car! Very exciting. Anyway, who of you have mini-vans or non gas-guzzling SUVs? What kind is it? What do you like or dislike about it?

We're going to do this soon before the Oldsmobile slips into the grave, so send your advice now!

136,000 reasons I should get pregnant by August

2010-02-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

I heard the other day that by the time the average woman turns 30, she only has 12 % of her eggs left! Granted, that's 136,000 eggs, but still...

Worse than a horror movie

2010-01-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

That's right; Halloween 2, Scream, The Others ... They got nothin' on me. I took on Rena's challenge and found some horrifying pictures from high school. Be prepared. I've warned you. Here's one of me in home ec class. That's my friend Sarah who's making bunny ears on me. Isn't she a great friend. By the way, I'm NOT posting the picture of Sarah and I on "twin day," wearing matching vests. It's just too shocking for words.

And here's me next to my brothers, whom I have hidden in order to spare them the humiliation I am now subjecting myself to. Don't ask me what the heck I was doing in this picture, because I wouldn't be able to tell you.
And this one is truly awful. I had been crying, so my face is extra pink and splotchy.
HOWEVER, I must not have looked that bad. I think I just didn't know how to dress. What with the tapered jeans and the baggy shirts, I mean. Here's me at senior prom with my date, Jess. That was my first date ever ... in my life. See, I don't look terrible here, do I? Just a little goofy.
And now that you've had a good laugh and your sides are aching, I pass on the challenge to you! Find an equally terrifying picture of yourself from high school and post it on your blog. I want to see those 80's styles, people! Bring it on!

Oh my gosh, SNOW in Texas!!

2010-01-05T08:44:00.001-08:00

Here's Benji trying on a beanie before we go to Texas.

Here's Kate and Ethan in the holiday spirit making a gingerbread house. Cleaning up after this was a .... a difficult task.
Christmas Eve, we flew to Texas, and it was snowing!!! There were about 3 inches of snow in Grammy's back yard. We attempted a snowman, but the snow was too powdery and didn't stick. This is the best we could do:
Not very impressive, is it?
The next day, Christmas Day, the snow had all stuck. It was a white Christmas! Here's Ethan running through the snow:
And who are these fine-looking people?
That afternoon, the snow was beginning to melt, so it stuck very nicely, and we made this fabulous 4 1/2 foot all fellow. Chad added ears to it, so it became a snow bear. Then he added antennae, so it was a snow-bear-alien:
Isn't he handome? His smile and eyebrows are made out of almonds and cashews.
Wow, that is an amazing snowman:
Two days after Christmas, we went to see some ice sculptures in Grapevine. My favorite was this amazing manger scene. You can't really tell from the picture, but they are life-sized sculptures. It was really cool.
Chad and I had our SEVENTH anniversary on the 28th. Here's a nice sign that Shonda and Amanda made for us:
One day, my family all went to a state park. Here we are having a jolly time, except for Ethan:

Here's my incredibly strange brother and his fiance Amanda. She's super cool.
Ethan turned FOUR on Jan 1! Here's Ethan wearing one of his birthday presents.
And Shonda and I created this impressive gingerbread clock tower with connecting cobblestone bridge.

WHAT?

2009-12-12T16:54:00.001-08:00

Really? Not a single person has a comment to leave about the hilarious pictures below? Come on!

More reasons to love my family ... OR

2009-12-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

... more reasons that I might end up in the loony bin.

Benji cried after Chad took away the marker he was chewing on:
Fat lip after a fall in the bathtub:
Ethan took this picture of crazy Daddy. Need I say more?
Ethan took this picture of Benji:
and this one:
And the following are me trying to get a decent picture of both children at the same time. Not an easy task:

Ten things you probably don't know about me

2009-11-05T20:31:00.000-08:00

1. I wish I was Anne of Green Gables

2. I love my Schwinn Free Wheeler AL Swivel Double Jogger Stroller that I got free from Christie almost more than life itself.

3. I also love my garlic press from Pampered Chef an enormous amount. It is the greatest garlic press known to man. If you get one, you too will experience the joy that I have experienced.

4. I've been listening to country music lately. For years, I hated it; now there's a whole new genre that my eyes are being opened up to.

5. In college, I took an aesthetics class with Chad to prove my love for him. I tried so hard to understand it, and somehow got a B, but I really hated it, and it caused many fights between Chad and I

6. I used to fold my underwear carefully in a specific way and put the freshly washed ones underneath the older ones, so that they were rotated and all got used evenly. I quit doing this about 2 weeks ago; I finally realized I don't have time for this. Now, they're wadded up in the corner. It'll probably take another month before I'm really okay with this new change. YIKES!

7. My lifelong dream is to publish a book and have it fill the shelves of Barnes and Noble and be on the New York Times Bestseller list.

8. I had a poem published in a Canadian magazine when I was in college.

9. I used to shampoo my hair every single night, always, no exceptions. Then Betsy told me about a girlfriend of hers who has truly amazing hair, and she only shampoos once a month. Since that night 3 weeks ago, I've only been shampooing every other day. On the off-days, I feel ugly and dirty and greasy, but I really want amazing hair.

10. I haven't ovulated in 2 1/2 years.

Halloween

2009-11-05T19:59:00.001-08:00

First of all, are we not the most adorable Peter Pan family you've ever seen? AND, I must add that our costumes were homemade! I made Benji's shirt, all of my costume except the wings and the shoes, all of Ethan's costume, and Chad's coat and cravat. Isn't that Martha Stewart of me? Thanks, Michelle, for making Benji's hat when I failed at it.

Here's Captain Hook and Tinkerbell, putting aside their differences for the sake of love:
Here's Ethan trick-or-treating at University Center:
Chad and Benji trick-or-treating at Uni Center:
Benji takes a break in the stroller and enjoys a lollipop:
Here's Ethan with his good friend Gugi:
Here's Ethan with his good friend Kate:
And here's Peter Pan with Mr. Smee:
Here's me with my sweet, darling, chocolate-drooling, sugar-saliva-encrusted children (By the way, Benji refused to let go of his pumpkin all night; he wanted to keep the candy close at hand):

List of things I did NOT do today

2009-11-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

1. work out

2. eat healthily

3. sit on the floor and play with my kids

4. have patience with my children

5. go to the WIC office

6. buy plane tickets

7. pay rent

8. talk to good friends

9. read my sister's long email

10. read any of my book

But I DID wash, dry, fold, AND put away 3 loads of laundry, which is quite an accomplishment for one day. And I took care of two kids all day. And I squeezed an hour-long nap in while the kids were down. And I ate tons of Halloween candy; it's taking over my life and my kitchen, so the best thing to do is eat it so it's all gone.

I feel lousy about my lack of accomplishments today, but I need to get over that. I need to be more of a be-er and not such a do-er. It's one of my hubrises.

Make over

2009-10-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

What do you think of my sultry new red-headed friend?

(Only positive comments allowed here).

Hi, my name is Benji, and I'm an addict.

2009-10-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Group: Hi, Benji!

Benji: Well, I'm 17 months old, and I already have two addictions.

Group member # 1: Go ahead, Benji, we won't judge you.

Benji: Well, I'm addicted to trash and to making messes. The trash cans and recycling bins are like magnets to me. I'm just drawn to them; I can't help it. I love to take things out of the trash and throw them on the ground, like raw chicken fat that my mommy threw away, or a sticky yogurt container, or soda can. And if there's any drops of soda left in the can, I like to dump it out on the floor too.

(pause)

Group member # 2: Go on, Benji. This is good for you. Get it all out.

Benji: I also love to put non-trash items into the trash. Like my brother's shoe, my mommy's mascara and lip gloss, nail clippers, toy balls, magnets from the fridge, socks, pajama pants, cups, toy robots, and spoons. My mommy gets very upset, but I just can't seem to stop myself. I get such a rush from putting things in the trash can! I sometimes clap for myself and say "Yay" after I put a new item in the trash. (sob)

Group member # 3: Don't worry; crying is good for you.

Benji: My other addiction is making messes. I like to destroy entire areas of the house. I'm like a tornado. My parents sometimes call me the Benjmanian Devil. I like to open drawers and take literally everything out of them. I like to carry some of the items to other random parts of the house and leave them under strange places for my mommy to find later. I like to take Daddy's books down from the shelf and scatter them on the floor. I like to take all the markers and stamps out of the craft drawer and chew on the stamps so that my mouth turns pink or blue. I like to take all the rubber bands from the bag and make it rain rubber bands in the living room. I like to throw my food on the floor when I eat, and drip water or juice out of my cup onto the carpet. I also recently realized that I love to drink liquids from my cup, then spit it out on my shirt. And I like to flush the toilet unnecessarily and then clap for myself.

(pause)

And I like to find the marshmallows and the fruit snacks in the pantry, carry them to my mommy, and whine and cry for her to give some to me.

(pause)

Group leader: Is that everything, Benji?

Benji: No, I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

Group leader: We do. Thank you for sharing, Benji.

Group: Yes, thank you for sharing.

Group leader: Okay, let's close our meeting. Lord, grant me the serenity...

A "Wow" moment

2009-09-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, we went to Texas to see family. It was an amazing trip, and it surpassed my expectations. All three of my siblings were there with their significant others. I got to meet my niece for the first time. There were four cousins who had a great time together ... except for the frequent times they were fighting over toys. There was a ladies' lunch that was really nice. I got to reconnect with my sister. There were many rousing games of "styroball" in the swimming pool. It was all so wonderful.

The night before Chad and I left was also the night before my sister and her husband and daughter were to return to their overseas post. So we had a prayer time with the adults who were still there (my brothers were already gone). We prayed for safety, patience in travel, etc. We all took a turn praying aloud. A couple of times during the prayer, I looked around at all the people around the table and just felt a wow moment. I thought, "Wow, this is really cool. What a blessing to be a member of this family, all of whom are Christian, are serious about their relationships to Christ, worship God through their lives, and strive to be righteous people." I can't really explain this, but I felt an extremely strong connection to those members of my family through Christ. It was like he truly was there in our midst (Matt 18:20), and we were communing through prayer, reaching a level of closeness that the average irreligious person is not able to experience. It was just such a neat moment of ... realization? ... appreciation? I don't even know what to call it, but it was wonderful and really moved me.

Recent Conversations, Benji's Hobbies

2009-08-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, while we were all in the car, Chad and I briefly talked about if/when to plan a third child. (NOTHING was decided, so don't get your hopes up). This evening, this ensued:

Ethan (poking my breast): There's a little baby in there.

Hope: No, that's my breast. There's no baby in there!

Ethan: I wish there was a baby in your tummy. That would be cool!

Chad didn't say anything but I saw a pained look on his face.

A few days ago, this conversation happened:

Ethan: Mommy, spies are bad!

Hope: Well, some spies are bad guys, and some spies are good guys.

Ethan: I'm a good spy. You be a bad spy.

Hope: I don't want to be a bad guy. I'll be a good guy spy. Here, why don't you hide under this laundry basket and spy on the bad guys.

Ethan (under the laundry basket): This is my spy lab! I'm in a spy lab.

Hope (laughing): Oh, what do you do in your spy lab?

Ethan: I look for bad guys, because they are bad guys.

After church today, when Ethan was picked up from the 3-year old room, I asked him if he had fun in there. He said, "Yeah, it was awesome."

Benji has a new hobby. He likes to drop things into the toilet ... yes, even when the lid is down. He knows how to open it up. If we forget to close the door to the bathroom, we might find him either playing in the toilet water, or dropping things in there. Once I found a collection of bathtub toys in there. Another time, I found four baby wash cloths mixed up with toilet paper in the bowl.

His other hobby is putting things that are not trash in the trashcan and taking trash out of the trashcan. I mean, I guess I can see how this would be really fun. He's put a pair of shoes in the trash, a new tube of mascara, and one of Ethan's toys. I wonder if some day we'll wonder where something is, can't find it anywhere, and realize that it must have gone out with the trash weeks ago.

Benji also can now say "No," although he doesn't understand the meaning yet. He just copies me when I say it. He once said "turkey" when Chad was giving him turkey. And once he copied me say "Woof woof" when I showed him a picture of a dog. He can also say, "Hi," and he does actually understand the meaning of that word.

I steal

2009-08-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

I loved Jessica's post like this so much, that I'm stealing her idea. However, I must warn you that mine will not be as funny as Jessica's because in hers, she describes how 2-yr old Ella told her all about how boys have a penis and girls have a magenta.

Interesting tidbits:

When Ethan talks on the phone to the grandparents, he talks to them as if they're actually there. For example, "See, look at this snail. It's really big," or "I show you a spider web. See, it's yucky."

The other day, Ethan was playing with a transformer, making it run along the couch. He said, "See, it crushes everything in its path." Later that night, I realized it's a line from a book, where "The omnidroid crushes everything in its path."

Ethan's concept of time is limited to the past, but he calls it "next week." For example, "That was where we went next week" or "Where's the toy I played with next week?"

I recently made Ethan instant oatmeal, which he hasn't eaten in a long time. The packaging and the method of cooking it is so similar to Easy Mac, that he confused it with Easy Mac, and called it "mac 'n' moley." "Is my mac 'n' moley ready yet?"

Ethan is obsessed with good guys and bad guys. He asks about every toy, "Is this a good guy or a bad guy?" When we play with transformers or anything for that matter, it's "You be the bad guy; I'm the good guy."

He's also obsessed with flying and powers. He asks me frequently if such and such toy can fly and if it has powers. This morning he asked me if he had any powers.

Watching SpongeBob last week, Ethan picked up an unfortunate word: "butt." When he used it by repeated a line from the show, I snapped, "Ethan, I know SpongeBob uses that word, but we do NOT use that word in our house." He promptly replied, "I can say it in someone else's house?"

I've been babysitting an adorable and chubby little girl lately named Lilliana. The other day, she had her arm up on the table. Ethan pointed to one of the fat rolls on her arm and said, "Wee-anna has strong arms. Her arms are so strong."

Our once-innocent Benjers is already a pro at tantrums. If you take him away from something he wants, he screams "Aah, aah, aah, aah," kicks his legs simultaneously, and shakes his head from side to side. The kid can get so frustrated!

Benji really enjoys throwing things off the high chair, or out of his bed, or out of toy boxes and then saying, "Uh oh."

He LOVES his blankie. At night time after bath, he's usually really fussy and crying. We have a routine where I say, "Let's go find your blankie. Where's your blankie?" He half-laughs and half-cries "huh huh" till we see it. Then I say, "There's your blankie!" and he laughs and rubs his face into it.

He got his first pair of Robeez last week. They're brown summer sandals and they're super cute.

Thanks to Chad, Benji thinks it's time to wrestle whenever I'm lying on the floor. If I lie down, Benji drops what he's doing, laughs, comes over to me as quickly as possible, and lies down on top of me, laughing, expecting me to wrestle him.

He likes to give kisses. He opens his mouth really wide, goes "Aaaaah," and plants a literal wet one on your face.

He's walking more and more and likes to toddle around the house. If he's unhappy, then he toddles around saying, "Mommm-my, mommm-my." If he's happy, then he toddles around saying, "Wuh wuh deesh. Ah bah mush mush, ooh uh, nuh nuh naaaaay no nooo, boosh ayay."

Over the past 3 or 4 years, I have grown to like ice cream less and less and cookies more and more. Cookies are my weakness. Big, fresh-baked, soft, gooey cookies. And I didn't used to care for peanut butter cookies; now I love them. Here's a FANTASTIC recipe for them! Use Skippy natural super chunk.

The best pesto you will ever eat in your life

2009-07-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

I have a brilliant plan for this week. I'm going to make the following pesto sauce, and then we're going to eat it all week:

Monday: pasta with pesto sauce, broccoli, grilled or baked fish (tilapia I got on sale)

Tuesday: grilled cheese sandwiches with pesto spread on 1 of the slices of bread, carrot sticks

Wednesday: leftovers from ... last week...

Thursday: hamburgers with the neighbors before they move

Friday: grilled chicken sandwiches with pesto, lettuce, tomato, and onion

Saturday: pesto pizza (spread pesto on the pizza dough, then add red onion, feta cheese, whatever else you want, and mozzarella cheese), salad

So this pesto recipe is from my friend Rena. It is TO DIE FOR; you will hear angels singing when you eat this stuff:

1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup pine nuts

3 Tbsp pressed garlic (9 cloves)

5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed (washed and dried thoroughly)

2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 cups olive oil

a food processor

1 cup freshly grated parmesan (the Kraft kind is not good enough for this recipe)

To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin very dry in a salad spinner. Place walnuts, pine nuts, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store in the fridge or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Prepare your eyes for pure glamour

2009-07-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

First of all, make sure you're sitting down. Then, prepare your eyes to see me as you've never seen me. It is purely glamourous and beatific. In other words, I look darn good. I haven't looked so good or felt so pretty since my own wedding.

This is me in Chad's sister Amanda's, wedding. Chad was an usher, I was a bridesmatron (which is a truly horrible word; it sounds so matronly), and the two boys were ringbearers. The wedding was fun and the kids did great. We were very impressed. It was fun to have my hair done and my nails done and have fancy make up.

Okay, here it is. Are you ready? Ta da!

Do I not look AMAZING?

And here is the lovely bride Amanda with my two adorable children:

Ouch!

2009-07-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

No one appreciated my latest blog post?? I'm offended. I'll have to try harder and be better.

A new reason to love Trader Joe's

2009-06-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Because they have THIS on the wrapper around their toilet paper.

"If you thought the brisket was good, you should try the toilet paper."
"Did someone remember to bring the toilet paper?"
"This amazing bath tissue is a must-have accessory for the modern bathroom. Set on a high-tech cardboard tube, you simply place it on any bath tissue holder and watch it magically roll away your cares! If you're the kind of Joe that likes to be up on the latest in modern gadgetry, you really must stock Trader Joe's Bath Tissue in your WC."

sushi, etc

2009-06-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

Let it be known that I tried "good" sushi for the first time last night, and I didn't like it. Well, I did like the avocado roll and the california roll (neither of which had fish in it). As for the salmon roll and the fresh tuna ... it's a no go. Sorry, folks, I just don't like raw fish. However, I have now tried sushi, so I can scratch that off my list of things to do before I die. Only 585 to go, the least important of which is to try bungee jumping.

Ethan is on his 9th day of potty training. We went straight to underwear. The first day, there were 7 accidents, the next day 5, the next day 3, then about 1 or 2 each following day. Yesterday was the first day of no accidents. He even woke up 3 times last night to go potty, without prompting from us, and woke up with only a slightly wet diaper. WHAT A CHAMP! He has now earned the Buzz Lightyear toy that he's been asking about 12 times a day that was sitting on the top of the China cabinet just waiting for him to complete his star chart. Rewards work!

Another important day in the lives of the Kidds is Monday, June 8th, the day of Benji's first haircut. It was a sad day as the baby curls fell from his angelic face and he graduated on to his testy pre-toddler years. Oh boy, I can't wait.

Finally, I think something might be wrong with me. Or possibly, this is a common problem with anyone who is an anxious type. I was at Disneyland yesterday, and it was very crowded. I found myself repeatedly annoyed and irritated at the people who stepped in front of my stroller, causing me to stop suddenly and give my children whiplash, and the man who wasn't looking where he was going, ignored my warning of "Sir, sir!" and ran into my stroller, knocking us slightly sideways, and then sarcastically said, "I'm okay, don't worry about it." I got very agitated with the large clusters of teenage kids who stood in the middle of the street, blocking the way, and the populous families consisting of 3 strollers and 8 adults who were sauntering casually down the walk as if they had nothing more important to do.

Is this is a normal frustration? I know that my anxiety and ability to stress over nothing is something I need to work on, and I am working on it. Anyway, I think anyone who tends to stress easily (i.e. NOT Bridge) does get annoyed with slow people and lack of common courtesy. Oh the days of common courtesy! Are they gone forever?

Bikini ready!

2009-06-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

Just kidding! I had you fooled, didn't I? I'm not bikini ready, but I DO need advice on where to get a good, supportive one-piece swimsuit (or tankini) that will hold my breasts up and isn't so low-cut that it shows cleavage. (It's okay that I say this on here, because no men read my blog...not even Chad).

Anyway, any advice??

Half-Marathon Success

2009-05-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

On Monday, May 25th, I ran the Laguna Hills Half-Marathon. I had been training for this for about 6 months. My goal time was anything under 2 1/2 hours. I kept up with my friends Michelle and Miles for 3 miles, then they sped along on their merry way. I stayed with my friend Rena till mile 10, then she went on her merry way. I finished the whole thing in 2 hours and 16 minutes (and 7 seconds). Woohoo! I was (and am) unbelievably proud of myself.

A huge thanks to Bridget who came out to cheer us on at mile 4 and at mile 11 (when I REALLY needed some cheering on). And to Chad who brought the kids up there to the finish line, and who let me rest, ice my feet, and take a really long bath later in the day.

This race was SO fun. Finishing was one of the best feelings. I want to do another race; someday, I'll even tackle a full marathon. I'm sad that this one is over.

Anyway, here's me immediately after finishing; I laid down right away because everything was spinning:

And here's me about 3 minutes later, feeling much better.
And since Chad didn't catch me coming across the finish line, we did a fake finish.
Miles of Miles, Michelle the Gazelle, Hope, and Rena the 6-month pregnant lady who can still run 13 miles.
Me with my supportive children who came to see me across the finish line.

Here's Benji the next day, who prefers to think inside the (toy) box.
And here's Ethan who made a collage the other day. He used more glue than tissue paper.

WARNING!!! DANGER!!

2009-05-23T20:29:00.001-07:00

Beware, everyone! THIS could happen if you take your children to Target with you:

And this:
Don't let these photographs fool you. It's even worse-looking in person. And these were taken the day of; it's even more bruised and black today. He definitely has a black eye.

How did this happen, you ask? No, I did not beat him.

Pull up a chair, settle in, and hark to my tale of woe.

It all began on a lonely Friday. I decided to go to Target and get all the things on my list. I got all of them, and then the kids were getting antsy, so I let them get out of the cart while I looked at the children's clothes on sale. Long story short, Ethan was running around, and I felt too depressed and tired to stop him. He wasn't really doing any harm anyway, except endangering himself. He was hi-tailing it around a corner, tripped and fell, and hit his poor little eye right on the corner of a metal shelf.

Of course he started screaming.

The three Indian ladies standing close by shot me glaring looks of disapproval. But at least one of them was nice enough to ask me if he was okay.

At first, I was irritated that he fell, but when I looked at his eye and saw the gash, the immediate swelling, and the immediate purple coloring, my heart skipped a beat. I told myself to calm down; it didn't look like he'd need stitches, and it was barely bleeding.

We got some ice from the food area, Ethan stopped crying, we checked out asap, and drove home fast.

This is why I love and adore SHOPPING SANS CHILDREN. Shopping sans children is one of my favorite activities.

I ended the day feeling like a failure as a mother because what kind of mother lets her children run wild around the store?

This is not a rhetorical question, so when you answer it, please answer "Even the best ones" so that I will feel better.

Thank you.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Ethan and I made pink lemonade this morning. It was this month's recipe in his High Lights magazine.

And here's Benji doing one of his favorite activities: hanging onto my pants leg. He's really talented at it.
Benji is sick. Possible teething. Fever of 100.6 yesterday, ridiculously fussy and cranky. He's got a really runny nose, some coughing, and is drooling like Niagara Falls. He woke up LITERALLY EVERY HOUR last night except for 1 am. That would be: 11 pm, 12 midnight, 2 am, 3 am, 4 am, 5 am, 6 am and 7 am. That's 8 times my friends, 8 times!!

Back to some good news: Ethan says, "I love you" these days. He's been saying it for a couple of weeks without prompting. He'll randomly come up to me and say, "I like you, Mommy." When I come back from an errand, he'll say, "I missed you." When I kiss him goodnight and say I love you, he says, "I wuv you too." It's heart-melting!

Rainy day/Cold day/Hot day/One-child-is-still-napping-and-we-can't-go-outside-yet activities

2009-05-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

I don't love being stuck in the house. I get stir-crazy and impatient with the kids. I often can't think of what to do to keep them entertained. A lot of these require supervision and/or a lot of clean up, but they're fun. I've been working on this list for awhile, and I'm finally typing it up for you. Feel free to add to the list if you have any brilliant ideas.

1. Make playdough and then play with it. Try some of these recipes. One is even edible!

2. Clean out the sink. Then dump a bag of dry beans or noodles in there. Give the kids some spoons, ladles, and measuring cups. They can "cook," and all the beans are contained in the sink.

3. Can bowling: get a bunch of cans out of the pantry. Set up 3 in a tower formation. Use a heavy can to "bowl" over the tower formation.

4. Mix corn starch and water. It makes a funny-feeling dough that's fun to play with.

5. Get the kids naked and put them in the bathtub. Smear shaving cream all over the side of the tub and let 'em go nuts. Turn on the shower to clean them off.

6. Look through family photos.

7. Play computer games. I love this website; it has a ton of games for many ages, and they are always adding new ones on there. This one is also good for ages 1-3.

8. Write and illustrate a story together.

9. Turn on some music and have a dance party.

10. Build towers. You can use blocks, Legos, cans, whatever.

11. Get out some pots, pans, bowls, spoons, and spices. Pretend to add spices and make a soup.

12. Make and eat cookies.

13. Call the grandparents. Let the kids talk on the phone as long as they want while you check your email!

14. Blow up a balloon and play balloon volleyball.

15. Make sandwiches. Set a sheet out on the floor and have an indoor picnic.

16. Color in coloring books.

List of things I did today

2009-05-04T20:28:00.001-07:00

Ran 5 miles

Went to MOPS and supervised a lengthy craft

Played with the kids for over an hour in the MOPS room after it was over

Drove home and fed everyone lunch

Put both dudes down for a nap

Cleaned the downstairs (vacuumed, swept, mopped, cleaned tables and the highchair)

Wrote 8 thank you notes

Uploaded pictures from the camera

Washed 3 loads of laundry

Made dinner

Walked with Chad and the kids to Joe's to buy coffee

Took a detour by YogurtLand and ate frozen yogurt

Washed the dishes

Re-cleaned the downstairs because it got messy again

And you wonder why I'm tired.

This just makes me so happy!

2009-04-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

I am now done with my grocery shopping for the week. Usually, I only go to Trader Joe's and Albertson's. But this week, I went to Ralph's also because they had some really good deals. Okay, you know how you "save" money at each store by buying sale items and using your card? At Ralph's, I spent $27 and saved $26! At Albie's, I spent $45 and saved $26. I feel so good!

Last week at Albie's I spent $48 and saved $46! Isn't that exciting??

BTW, everyone should go to Albie's this week: 5 lb bag of potatoes for 99 cents, 5 lb bag of apples for 2.99, vine tomatoes for 99 cents a pound, 73% lean ground beef for 99 cents, brown rice for 1.99.

I'm on a high right now. Who knew that saving money on groceries could be as good as illegal drugs?

Menu for this week

2009-04-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't done this is AGES! One reason is because it takes a ton of time...time that I just don't make a priority. The other reason is because lately I've done a lot of experimental recipes that I make up as I go along, and I don't have amounts and ingredients to write down until the recipe is already put together.

But this week, I'm mostly trying new ones: some from the Kraft magazine and some from other friends.

Sunday: orange-chicken rice bowl

Monday: skillet potatoes with bacon and cheddar (YUM), cole slaw

Tuesday: red beans with rice

Wednesday: posole

Thursday: German apple pancakes

Friday: chicken with garlic and parmesan, Brianna's salad

Saturday: leftovers

Orange-chicken rice bowl

This one was from the Kraft magazine, and it was so mediocre, that I won't waste my time writing it down here.

Skillet potatoes with bacon and cheddar

(This one isn't so bad if you use turkey bacon, margarine instead of bacon grease, light sour cream, and go easy on the cheese)

6 slices bacon

1 onion, chopped

2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

6 Tbsp sour cream

Cook bacon in skillet on medium heat till crisp (I microwaved mine). Remove bacon, set aside, save 3 Tbsp drippings in skillet. Add onion to skillet; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add potatoes, cover. Cook on medium-low heat 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Top with cheese and crumbled bacon. Cover 1-2 minutes till cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Serve with sour cream on the top.

Fat-free cole slaw

8-10 oz shredded cabbage (about 2 1/2 cups?)

1 cup shredded carrots (2-3 whole carrots)

3/4 cup grapes, cut in half

1/2 cup chopped strawberries

6 oz fat-free yogurt

1 Tbsp splenda (or sugar)

Mix the fruits and vegetables together. Add splenda to yogurt and mix, then blend with the salad.

Red beans and rice

I used 1 lb of dry dark red kidney beans and cooked them according to package instructions. At the end of cooking, I removed most of the water; I like my beans thick and stewy. Then I add the following, and I don't measure, so here are guesses of how much I use.

2 Tbsp bbq sauce

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp liquid smoke (this stuff is so good and so versatile; everyone should own a bottle)

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce

salt to taste

I served like a soup over rice.

Posole

See this link to Amber's blog.

German apple pancakes

Why NOT have breakfast for dinner???

See this link to Amber's blog.

Chicken with garlic and parmesan

4 small boneless chicken breast halves (1 lb)

20 cloves of garlic

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 caesar dressing

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat skillet on medium-high heat and add chicken and garlic. Cook 4 minutes, turning chicken after 2 minutes. Stir in broth and dressing; cover with lid. Cook chicken 4 minutes on each side, or until done (165 degrees). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 1 minute.

Brianna's salad

See this link to Amber's blog (I'm going to leave out the chicken since the other recipe has chicken).

Shout outs

2009-04-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

The first shout out goes to me for surviving these two conversations that happened today.

Ethan: Mommy, I have a booger. (It's on his finger, which he is holding out to me, but I'm in the front seat of the car driving).
Hope: Gross ... well, just wipe it on your jeans.
Ethan: I can't.
Hope: Why not?
Ethan: I'm too angry.
Hope (laughing quietly): Oh, why are you angry?
Ethan (with a sigh): I don't know. (Pause). Mommy I have a booger.
(If you can make sense of this conversation, then you are ahead of me!)

Ethan: Mommy, what is this on my shirt?
Hope: That's ketchup that you wiped on your shirt instead of wiping your face with a napkin.
Ethan: Mommy, did you do this to me?
Hope (with a sigh): No, Ethan, you did that to yourself.
Ethan: Oh. (Pause). It's very messy.

Second, I give a shout out to Wamu's fraud prevention department.
Last Tuesday, they called us about 3 suspicious purchases made on Chad's debit card. Chad cancelled the card that night. One of the purchases didn't go through, but 2 of them did: totaling about $800. On Thursday or Friday, we got a receipt in the mail addressed to us with the wrong zip code. It had some lady's name on it and an address. "Christina Gutierrez" wasn't very smart, although this is probably not the real name or address. By the way, this was for the $500 scale she bought from some healthcare company. Chad took this paper to the police, and they said these scales are generally used for weighing drugs.
Great, now names are connected to some drug scandal...
I will give a shout out to the police if "Christina" can be caught and suffer the full penalty of the law (Yikes, I thought I was over this, but no, still angry about it). Or at least, be caught and be forced into drug rehab.

Thanks, Wamu, for catching it early.

Thirdly, I want to give a shout out to Benji
because he's so cute and makes me smile every day. I get so many comments on how cute he is, how adorable his scoot/crawl is, how beautiful his eyes are, etc. It warms my little heart. I love my Benjers.

Fourthly, a shout out to Ethan-pie
because he says funny things every day, and it makes me laugh. Sometimes, he says something funny or smart or off-the-wall, and I think, "Where did he even get that from?" He's a funny guy. The other day, I was getting him out of bed, and he said, "I like you, Mommy."

Next, I give a shout out to Bridget, Michelle, and Shonda because they are stellar.

And finally, I give a shout out to Taylor Swift because I really like this song.

8 Mile

2009-03-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

No, folks, I'm not talking about the Eminem movie that was terrible and came out in 2003. I'm talking about how many miles I ran today. Yes, I ain't kiddin'. I ran 8 miles today with Michelle P. I felt AWESOME. I AM awesome for doing 8 miles. Although now that it's evening, and one of my muscles is definitely pulled, and the rest of me feels weak, sore, stiff, and like jello all at the same time; I'm not feeling so awesome.

Hurry, respond now!!!!

2009-03-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

My friend Maia is doing this on her blog, and it's such a fun idea. The first 5 people who respond to this post will get something made by me (my choice) for you. Don't you feel super special already?
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. What I make will be just for you (it could be a craft project; it could be something to eat; it could be anything...)
2. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
3. It will be done sometime before September.
4. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first however many people (I chose 5) who do the same on their blogs.
And you have to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Why I'm Pensive

2009-03-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

Thank you, dear readers, for the compliments on my photo. And it was even a self-portrait! :) (How junior high am I, taking pictures of myself?)

Anyway, some of you are wondering why I've been pensive and what it is that I've been pondering. There are two things. The first one has been solved, and it's good news.

1. For a loooooong time, I've been anxious about the Verano housing assistant position. I have applied for this position 4 times, and we had to wait a long time for the hiring committee to make a decision. Meanwhile, we heard rumors and strange things, and we (Bridge, Michelle, and me mainly) came up with radical theories and conjectures about what the heck was going on. Anyway, long story short, after many moons of restless nights, I received the glorious news yesterday that I GOT A POSITION! Yes, it's true, I am the next housing assistant extraordinaire. I have a lot to live up to though...

2. Secondly, I have a good friend from college named Alicia. Her husband John has been fighting cancer for over a year. Last September, they didn't expect him to live more than 4-6 months. (He was only 31, mind you). Then in December, they said that after 4 weeks of radiation, he'd be cancer-free. Then, in early March, they said the cancer was back and was growing. He also had pneumonia and because his white blood cell count was so low from the chemo, he couldn't fight the pneumonia. We were told by Alicia to pray for a miracle. Last Saturday, we heard the news that he was given a matter of hours to live. He held for another 40 hours before he died early Monday morning. Alicia, aged 28, is now a widow and single mother of a 3-yr old girl.

The worst part of it is that she's already lost 2 children as well. This woman has been through more tragedy and attack than most of us will experience in a life-time. Imagine two children and a husband dying! I can't help but question God in these days. Why give Alicia false hope in December that John would be well again? Why take him at all? Why "Job" her like that by taking so many loved ones?

Somewhere in the back of my head, I know that God knows what he's doing, that he's in control, that he "works all things together for the good of those who love him," (Romans 8:28). But in my heart, which is broken for my friend who is suffering such tragedy, I can't help but wonder. Don't worry, I'm not losing my faith; I 'm not angry at God. I'm simply shaking my head thinking "Why? I just don't get it."

John is in a better place, in Heaven with God and with Jack and Rainee, his two lost children. I imagined him arriving in Heaven on Monday morning, in no more pain, his body perfect, seeing Rainee and Jack and running to them, picking them up, and embracing them, holding them for an eternity because time means nothing to him now. He can look back over his shoulder, see Alicia weeping, and says to her, "Don't cry for me. I'm happy now. I'm with Jesus."

Great, I'm crying now.

Funny things about Ethan and Benji

2009-03-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

Conversation between Chad and Ethan as Chad was putting Ethan to bed. Bumblebee is Ethan’s transformer, and Ethan sleeps with it in his crib.
Chad: There’s Bumblebee. Hi, Bumblebee.
Ethan: No! Bumblebee doesn’t talk.
Chad: Yes, he does, if you push his button.
Ethan: I talk without a button. I talk by myself.

Conversation between me and Benji.
Me: Benji, can you say ma-ma? Ma-ma. Say ma-ma.
Benji (with a devious smile): Da-da

Knife in the heart why don't ya?

Benji is crawling now! Or, well, scooting is more like it. He’s been doing it about 3 days now. He gets his arms in the right place and one leg in the right place. The other leg is still kind of under his body, and he scoots around that way. He can go pretty fast and pretty far.

Ethan likes to play gardener lately. He’s seen the gardeners around here in Verano who cut pretty much everything green down. No, seriously, for two days, they were over here in our courtyard weed-whacking all the plants, grass, and weeds. It had looked really green and pretty; now it’s completely brown. I’m not kidding. Completely brown. I just don’t get it. Anyway, the other day, Ethan got a little pair of kid scissors and said “I want to play gardener.” And off he went to snip off leaves and branches of the bushes. Pretty cute if you ask me.

Ethan is really into Bible stories lately. (At last, a sign I’m doing SOMETHING right!) We have a book with Bible stories, written for children with big pictures. Our goal is to read one at night after dinner. That’s happened about 10 times. No, just kidding, we’re a little bit better than that. But it doesn’t happen every night like it’s supposed to. For a long time, Ethan’s liked the story of David killing Goliath. He’d say “Read the giant one!” Lately, Ethan’s been asking me at random times during the day, “Let’s read Bible stories!” He likes Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, and yesterday, we read a couple of Moses stories. When we read the one where he asks “the bad king” to let his people go, Ethan said, “I don’t like this one. He’s scary.” ☺

Ethan has been interested in growing. He asks if things will make him grow. “This chocolate milk makes me grow?” “This hotdog makes me grow?” And sometimes, he’ll say with a delighted smile, “Mommy, these noodles go in my mouth and in my tummy and make me grow!”

Ethan recognizes “the Target sign.” You know, that Target symbol that’s on all the Target-brand things I buy? There are things all over the house, like the baby shampoo, the desitin, the baby Tylenol, his vitamins, etc. Whenever he sees something around the house with the symbol on it, he says, “Mommy, is this from Target?” It’s hilarious.

And, finally, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of the boys in the bathtub.

And one of me looking pensive, because I've had a lot to ponder lately (that's another whole post for another day!)

Oh my gosh, this is the coolest thing EVER!!!!!

2009-02-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

Whoever invented this should win an Oscar, or a gold medal, or the Nobel prize or something. 'Cuz this is AWESOME!!!!!
Craving chocolate, but don't want to make a whole cake or pan of brownies? All your problems are solved! This is a chocolate cake you can make in a coffee mug, and most people have all these ingredients on hand anyway. Try it; it'll be the neatest thing you'll do all year! I'm not kidding. You'll thank me for this one.

Personal chocolate cake in a coffee mug
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Use the largest coffee mug you have. Mix dry ingredients in mug. Add the egg, and mix thoroughly. Add milk, oil, and vanilla (and chocolate chips), and mix thoroughly again. Cook in the microwave on high for 3 minutes (the first time you make it, place it on a plate in case it spills over). VOILA! Your chocolate cake is done!
Isn't this the coolest thing ever??

How to make your own French memo board

2009-02-13T16:37:00.001-08:00

We're doing this in MOPS next month, so I made a sample the other day. And now, you too, can do it. It didn't take me very long, maybe 30 minutes total. Here's the final product:

To start out, get all the supplies ready. You'll need an artist's canvas (flat or with a wood frame, flat is cheaper. I got this at Walmart, a 3-pack for under $6. This is a 12x16 size, that's all our MOPS budget will allow. I recommend you make a much bigger one!), enough fabric to cover it (for me, that was 1/3 of a yard), some quilt batting, ribbon, and glue (a glue gun, gorilla glue, super glue, E6000 glue, or liquid nails), and a stapler.

Step one: cut 2 or 3 pieces of batting that are the size of the canvas. Don't worry, they don't have to be exactly the same size.

Step two: Lay canvas on top of fabric and cut it so that you have an extra 1 1/2 to 2 inches on each side of your canvas.

Step three: Lay your fabric piece on the floor or table. Place the batting in the middle of the fabric. Place the canvas UPSIDEDOWN on top of the batting. Bring the fabric over the back of the canvas and glue it down. Pull each side tightly. Press and hold till the glue dries a little.

Here's Ethan "helping" me glue the fabric down.

Step four: use some extra glue to hold down those pesky corners.

Step five: Turn the board over. Cut ribbon and place it where you want it to be on the board. Make sure you have about 2 inches (or more) to glue onto the back.

I chose to do this design; you can place the ribbon whereever you want it.

Step six: Turn board back over and glue down your ribbon. Pull it tight!
Step seven: Cut another piece of ribbon the length you want for hanging it up on the wall. Staple it to the back of the board.

Here's how it looks on the back when you're all done. But don't worry, the front is super cute.

Step eight: Stand back and admire your handywork! Fill your memo board with pictures of your adorable children (like mine), or with grocery lists or whatever. Hang it on the wall, preferably near your front door. That way, everyone who comes in your house will say, "My, how lovely. Where did you get that?" And you can humbly say, "That? Why, I made it," and they'll be in awe of you.

Food

2009-01-31T15:50:00.000-08:00

This is actually the menu from last week. I mostly made up this stuff, so I will only put down the recipes that were successes. I won't bother to write down the ones that were failures.

Sunday: ginger mushroom-potato soup, Greek salad

Monday: poppyseed chicken casserole with rice, green beans with shallots

Tuesday: mango chicken pasta

Wednesday: Chinese broccoli beef (SUPER YUMMY!)

Thursday: lemon-garlic chicken, spaghetti-basil soup

Friday: Thai green curry

Ginger Mushroom and Potato Soup serves 2-3
8-10 oz of sliced mushrooms (about 2 ½ cups)
½ red onion, diced
1 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
½ pint whipping cream (1 cup)
1 large baking potato (1 ½ cups)
1 can beef broth (2 cups)
1 ½ tsp ginger
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat butter over medium heat and sauté mushrooms and onion till tender, about 10 minutes. Peel, wash, and cut potato into small chunks, about 1½ cups. Heat beef broth in a pot over medium heat. Add potatoes and bring to a boil. Boil till potato is tender, about 10 minutes. Turn heat to simmer. Add cooked mushrooms and onions to the potatoes. Stir in cream and ginger. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Greek Salad serves 3-4
1 head of romaine, red leaf, or green leaf lettuce
6 large fresh basil leaves
½ cucumber
2 Roma tomatoes
2 slices of red onion
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
1/3 cup feta cheese
Dressing:
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Wash and spin (or let dry) the lettuce. Tear or cut into bite-sized pieces. Place on a plate. Peel and dice the cucumber and sprinkle over the lettuce. Dice the tomatoes and sprinkle over cucumber. Take the onion slices and cut into 1-inch pieces; add to salad. Cut the olives in half length-wise and add to salad. Sprinkle 1/3 cup feta cheese over the top. Finely chop the basil leaves and add to the top of the salad. Cover and refrigerate till ready to serve.
For the dressing, whisk together the olive oil and the vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and whisk again.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole serves 4-6
4 large chicken breasts
freshly ground black pepper
1 (10 ½ oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 ½ oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 (16 oz) carton of sour cream
3 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 sleeve Ritz (or similar) crackers, crushed
1/2 cup melted butter
Heat oven to 375. Cut chicken into strips or bite sized pieces and place on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish. Sprinkle the chicken with black pepper. In a bowl, combine the soups, the sour cream, and the poppy seeds. Pour this mixture over the chicken.
Cook at 375 for 30-35 minutes, till chicken is cooked through. Turn oven down to 350. Take baking dish out of oven and sprinkle the crushed crackers over the top. Drizzle the butter over the crackers. Return to oven for 5 minutes; then remove.
Serve over rice.

Green Beans with Shallots serves 3-4
1 bag frozen green beans
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place beans in a pot with about 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Boil until beans are tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat butter in a frying pan, and slice shallots. Saute shallots over low heat. Just before shallots are done, add one pressed clove garlic to the pan.
When beans are done, drain and return to pot. Add the shallots and garlic to the beans. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir and serve.

Mango Chicken Pasta serves 3-4
½ lb whole wheat rotelle (spiral) pasta
2 large chicken breasts
2 fresh mangoes
½ cup + 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
½ cup sweet mango chutney
2 green onions
¼ cup chopped cilantro
freshly ground black pepper
Heat oven to 350. Place chicken breasts in a baking pan and drizzle both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Take out, turn the breasts over and cook 15 minutes more. Place aside.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain and place in a bowl (or return to pot). Dice chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the pasta. Peel mangoes and dice; add to pasta. Add mayonnaise and chutney (you can vary amounts to your taste), green onions, and cilantro. Mix together well. Sprinkle with pepper, mix again, and serve either hot or cold.

Chinese Broccoli and Beef A NEW FAVORITE serves 3-4
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp oil
2 shallots
2 lbs beef chuck steak (or similar)
2 cups frozen (or fresh broccoli), cut
1/3 cup stir fry sauce
rice
Trim fat off of steak and cut into 2-inch long slices, as thinly as possible. Place the meat onto a plate. Pour soy sauce over meat and mix. Return to refrigerator and let it marinate for at least one hour (or overnight).
Place broccoli in a pot with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and let steam till broccoli is tender. Drain.
Heat oil in a large pan. Slice shallots and add to pan. Cook for one minute before adding beef (drain soy sauce from beef first). Cook beef until no longer pink in the middle, (8-10 minutes). Shallots will be soft by this point.
Add broccoli to beef. Pour stir fry sauce over beef and broccoli. Cook 2 minutes more; remove from heat. Serve over rice.

Lemon-Garlic Chicken
FAILURE. It was way too dry, so I'll have to try that one again...

Spaghetti Soup with Basil serves 2-4
(ONLY MAKE THIS ONE IF YOU REALLY LIKE BASIL. IT'S PRETTY BASILY)
5 oz spaghetti, broken in half twice
¼ onion (white or yellow)
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
freshly ground black pepper
Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain, return to pot, and cover with lid.
While spaghetti is cooking, dice onion and press garlic cloves. Heat butter in a pan, and sauté onion and garlic until tender (about 7 minutes).
Add chicken broth to the pot of spaghetti. Add in onions and garlic and bring to a simmer. Add in basil and pepper to taste; stir.

Thai Green Curry
We tried this pre-made jarred curry from Trader Joe's. It was too spicy for me, but really flavorful. We ate it over chicken, rice, and broccoli.

The week in pictures

2009-01-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, we went to a friend's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Here's Chad and Benji having a grand ol' time.

Ethan eats a cupcake and is able to enjoy it more thoroughly by letting his face taste it as well.
On Monday, the boys wear matching outfits. Oh no, have I turned into one of THOSE moms? But they look so cute, do they not?
On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we have cooler weather, some of it rainy. Here's Ethan in a warm jacket playing transformers outside before it started raining.
On Thursday, after it started raining, I took the boys to run some errands at Lowe's and Michael's to get MOPS craft supplies. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? And then we went to Chick Fil A to play inside. Chick Fil A makes me very happy. I hope they have their deluxe chicken sandwiches with Chick Fil A sauce in Heaven...

Here's Benji modeling a hooded shirt and chewing on stuff--that's what he does best--chewing on stuff, I mean, not modeling.
On Friday, Ethan eats raisins without spitting them out for the first time!
I get fed up with bad hair days, such as this one, and make an appointment for next Wednesday to have it all removed, or at least to have it cut very short.

Also notice that obnoxious fever blister that has been aggravating me for 9 days now.
By Friday, you can really see how visible Benji's first two teeth are.
What exciting things are in store for us next week?

I now have two things to catch up on. First of all, Jackie Lynn has given me the "I Love Your Blog Award." Thanks, Jackie Lynn, that makes me feel really special! With the award, I have to answer the following questions with one word only:
1. Where is your phone? charging
2. Where is your significant other? working
3 .Your hair color? mousy
4. Your Mother? gentle
5. Your Father? doctor
6. Your favorite thing? chocolate
7. Your dream last night? dunno
8. Your goal? Christian
9. The room you're in? "office"
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? rich
15. One of your wish-list items? clothes
16. Where you grew up? Zimbabwe
17. The last thing you ate? macaroons
18. What are you wearing? clothes (I should hope so!)
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? annoying
21. Your computer? MAC!
22. Your mood? moody
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? 1988! (I'm not joking)
25. Something you're not wearing? earrings
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your Summer? busy
28. Love someone? family
29. Your favorite color? two
30. When was the last time you laughed? morning
31. Last time you cried? Tuesday
32.Something you crave? chocolate
33. Why you blog? release

I now give the "I Love Your Blog Award" to Michelle P and Jessica for "The Native Expatriate."

And, finally, Rachel tagged me on this fun game: Open the 4th folder where you keep your photos. Choose the 4th photo without editing it! Explain the photo. Luckily, this is not embarrassing or hard. Here's one of Benji's 6-month pictures I took. Aw, isn't he cute?

Failure!!!

2009-01-19T08:59:00.001-08:00

Alas, my friends, I have FAILED. I spent $30 on the groceries this week (see previous post). I wasn't thinking about other important essentials, like bread and fruit, baby food and salad dressing. I needed vinegar to clean out my water filter, which is growing algae, and that was 1.89, and I needed lemon juice, and that was 2.99. Oh well, I still spent a lot less this week than usual.

The Great Kitchen Challenge

2009-01-17T09:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, folks, I’ve been spending too much money trying out so many new recipes. So, this week, I’m going to give myself a crazy challenge: only spend $20 on groceries. The only reason I think it can work is because I have a ton of stuff in my freezer and my pantry. This could also be called The Great Pantry Clean-Out. I am only slightly more excited about this week than I would be about a root canal.
I have a big bag of frozen chicken, frozen green beans, tons of frozen broccoli, plenty of canned goods, seasoning packets, rice, frozen hamburger patties, and pasta. I’m only purchasing about 5 items (not including WIC items … God bless WIC).
Here’s the plan:
Sunday: tuna casserole (yes, people, even I will eat such items)
Monday: poppy seed chicken casserole with rice and frozen green beans
Tuesday: spiral pasta, broccoli, and chicken with pesto sauce
Wednesday: bean and cheese quesadillas
Thursday: hamburgers and green salad
Friday: curry potatoes, broccoli, and carrots
Saturday: leftovers

Tuna Casserole
1 box mac ‘n’ cheese
1 can peas
1-2 cans tuna, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Make box of mac ‘n’ cheese according to instructions. Put mac in a 9x13 pan. Mix in peas, tuna, and soup. Heat in 350 oven for 20-25 minutes.

Poppyseed chicken casserole
4 chicken breasts
¼ tsp pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
6 oz shredded mozzerella or cheddar
1 (8-oz) carton sour cream
3 Tbsp poppy seeds
1 ½ cups crushed cornflakes
¾ cup melted butter
Spray 9x13 glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Lay chicken breasts in pan. In separate bowl, mix pepper, soups, sour cream, cheese, and poppy seeds. Pour this over the chicken. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. While it’s baking, mix crushed cornflakes and melted butter in a bowl.
Sprinkle cornflakes over the top of the casserole and return to oven for another 5 minutes.

Spiral pasta, broccoli, and chicken with pesto sauce
½ lb (8 oz) spiral pasta
2 cups broccoli (fresh or frozen)
2 small chicken breasts
Place chicken in baking pan. Rub olive oil on both sides and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Turn chicken over and bake 15 minutes more. Let cool, then dice.
In large pot, cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain and return to pot. In another pot, steam broccoli till soft; drain. Add broccoli and diced chicken to pasta.
Make pesto sauce (I’ll use Knorr’s pesto sauce mix), and add to the pasta mixture.

Bean and cheese quesadillas
Makes 2
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ cup diced green onions
½ cup diced tomatoes
4 tortillas
Spray skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Heat to medium heat. Place one tortilla in the skillet. Sprinkle with half the beans, half the cheese, half the onions, and half the tomatoes. Top with another tortilla. Grill on one side for 3-5 minutes, then flip over and grill the other side till cheese is melted and outside of tortilla is slightly blackened.
Repeat with other tortillas.

Hamburgers
Chad will grill the hamburgers. We’ll have green salad with ‘em.

Curry Potatoes, broccoli, and carrots
1 bag tri-color potatoes
2 cups broccoli
1 cup sliced carrots
Trader Joe’s yellow or red curry sauce
Clean and cut potatoes into chunks. Place in a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Take out and stir. Return to oven for another 25 minutes.
In the meantime, steam carrots and broccoli till soft.
Mix all vegetable together and serve with warmed curry sauce.

Kids say the darndest things

2009-01-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hope: Ethan, did you have fun at your party last night?
Ethan: Yes.
Hope: Did you like your yummy cupcake?
Ethan: Yes. And my hotdogs.
Hope: Yeah, I know, you ate two hotdogs! That's pretty amazing.
Ethan: It was amazing in my tummy.

Scrum-didilee-umptious

2008-12-12T21:26:00.001-08:00

The cornbread recipe below: FABULOUS!!! So yummy!
The nachos: quite scrumptious.
Unfortunately, the brisket was a bit dry; I think I should have cooked it at a lower heat than it suggested. But the marinade...Oh my, so great!
EVERYONE TRY THE CORNBREAD RECIPE! (Michelle says she adds a Tbsp of sugar to her cornbread; that sounds even better!)

Menu for December 8-14

2008-12-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

This week, I’m taking food to the Bullios on Monday and Saturday. And I’m going to be very ambitious and try five new Pioneer Woman recipes! (Why do I do this to myself? Oh yeah, I like good food…) And I’m going to make more divinity this week. I made some a couple of weeks ago…sooo yummy. I got that recipe from AllRecipes.com.
Note on the brisket: That was the most money I've ever spent on a hunk of meat in my life! Except for Chad... Oh well, it's going to feed us AND the Bullios. And it's going to be scrumptious.

Monday: Brisket, crash hot potatoes, green salad
Tuesday: Nachoes using the leftover brisket meat, sliced apples
Wednesday: Beans, Cornbread, and rustic spinach salad
Thursday: Italian tuna sandwiches (I was going to make that last week, but didn’t end up doing it)
Friday: take out
Saturday: sweet citrus chicken (an old favorite), broccoli
Sunday: Chinese chicken fried rice

Brisket (a Pioneer Woman recipe) Save the leftovers to make nachos.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/brisket_baby/

Crash hot potatoes (a Pioneer Woman recipe)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/

Nachos (a Pioneer Woman recipe)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/cowboy-nachos/

beans and cornbread (a Pioneer Woman recipe)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/recipes/beans-and-cornbread.pdf

Rustic Spinach Salad
8 cups baby spinach leaves
2 small apples, thinly sliced and cut in half
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¼ cup peanuts or cashews
½ cup Italian dressing
Toss all ingredients in bowl just before serving.

Italian tuna sandwiches (makes 1 sandwich)
When we went to Italy in 2004, we order a tuna sandwich from a stand, expecting it to be mixed with mayonnaise. But it was more like this, and it was delish!
2 slices bread, toasted
½ can of tuna, drained
1 slice of mozzarella cheese
mayonnaise
mustard
¼ avocado, sliced
sliced onion
sliced tomato
Spread mayonnaise on one piece of toast and mustard on the other. Lay the tuna on top of one piece of bread. Add the slice of cheese. Add slices of onion, avocado, and tomato.
Serve with carrot sticks and/or cucumber slices.

Sweet Citrus Chicken
1 2/3 cup boiling (or near-boiling) water
1 pkg stuffing mix for chicken
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter, melted
Add boiling water to stuffing mix; stir until just moistened. Set aside. Place chicken in 9x13 pan. Mix juice, sugar, and butter. Pour over chicken. Top with the prepared stuffing. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Chinese Chicken Fried Rice
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 Onion
1 1/2 pounds cooked, cubed chicken meat
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 large carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup fresh pea pods, halved
1/2 large green bell pepper, diced
6 cups cooked white rice
2 eggs
1/3 cup soy sauce
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft, then add chicken and 2 tablespoons soy sauce and stir-fry for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in carrots, celery, red bell pepper, pea pods and green bell pepper and stir-fry another 5 minutes. Then add rice and stir thoroughly. Finally, stir in scrambled eggs and 1/3 cup soy sauce, heat through and serve hot.

Divinity
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans or candied cherries for holidays
Be sure to make divinity on a dry day; candy will not harden on a humid day. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, heat sugar, salt, syrup and water to boiling, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Set candy thermometer in place and continue cooking over medium low heat, not stirring, until the temperature reaches 266°. When the temperature reaches 260° beat the egg whites with electric mixer at high speed, until stiff peaks form. While beating, pour the hot syrup slowly into the egg whites. Beat for about 2 to 3 minutes, until mixture isn't glossy. Add vanilla and turn to low speed. Continue beating until the mixture holds its shape when dropped from a spoon. It will probably be too thick for the mixer at this point. Stir in pecans or chopped candied cherries with a wooden spoon. With a lightly buttered teaspoon, drop onto waxed paper. Work as quickly as possible. If mixture gets too thick to work with, add a few drops of water. Let stand until dry. Store in tightly covered containers.

I cook and eat

2008-11-28T14:41:00.001-08:00

First of all, here are two of my favorite pies that were at my house on Thanksgiving Day. Here's Benji-pie

And here's Ethan-pie.
Now, I have to show you a picture of an early Christmas present from Chad's mom. New pots and pans!!! Aren't they cool? They are Emeril Ware. They are stainless steel and heat up pretty quickly and hold the heat well. They're shiny and pretty too. Now, tell me, can you look at these glorious pots and pans and NOT get excited??
On Thanksgiving Day, I got into the "holiday spirit" as Chad called it, and I cooked up a storm. Boy, oh boy, did I have fun! I made three things I've never made before. I made homemade cranberry sauce:
Home made rolls! (I know; I can't believe I did it either. But don't worry; I've recovered, and I won't ever be making home made rolls from scratch again. Not worth it. Pillsbury is just as good).
And my first ever chocolate chip pecan pie. The reason it looks a little over-baked is because I over baked it a little.
And I also made my de-de-delicious pumpkin dumpcake. SOOO tasty; I can't even describe how happy your taste buds are when you eat this. It's beyond delectable.
And I also made sweet potato casserole, but forgot to get a picture of it.

Today is Friday. I got up at 5:20 am, got dressed, nursed Benji, and went shopping! I got such a thrill walking out to the car in the dark and silence! So much fun. I went to only one store looking for a brown sweater for myself, and I found 2! I bought them both because they were so cheap. It was really fun to do that. I haven't gone shopping on Black Friday in about 4 years. Then I got home and found that Ethan had been awake since 5:40 am!

Today is also cleaning day, and look what I did to my stove! Have you ever seen a more sparkly and clean stove? Only Edward's skin in the sun could be more sparkly than this.

Twilight movie

2008-11-23T09:16:00.000-08:00

I went with a gaggle of girlfriends last night to see Twilight. I haven't done that kind of thing since college: getting to the theatre an hour before show time, waiting in line, desperate to get a good seat. I was just as enthralled as the teenage girls packed in the theatre: I too squealed when Edward first came on the screen. He is definitely the most mesmerizing and devastatingly handsome vampire I've ever seen. My heart beat fast when he and Bella spoke words of love to each other. I clenched my fists in excitement when he rescued Bella over and over again.
Why am I, a 28-year old woman with a love and family of my own, so mesmerized by a movie that was made to entertain girls ages 12-18? Is it bad that I am not mature enough to calmly sit and not be absorbed by teenage romance? That, I too, will be completely swept away in a glorious love story because I am so deeply moved?
I don't know. The girl side of me says no; the adult side of me says, "Get a grip."
But, then again, there really is nothing more inspiring and moving than a great love story. And the vast majority of women really crave romance, whether we want to admit it or not. We want a manly man who will save us from danger, fight off other guys for us, looks at us with longing in his eyes, be protective and strong, loyal, wealthy, and of course, devastatingly handsome. Now, Edward really is perfect because he's a vampire; he's so easy to like because he has all those admirable qualities. But some human characters are almost as good: like Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables, Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility, and Henry in The Time Traveler's Wife.
Enough of those rambling thoughts. Let's just say that I LOVED the movie!! And I LOVE the books! And I wish I could be half as cool as Stephenie Meyer.

Menu for November 24-30

2008-11-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

Monday: beef stew
Tuesday: pasta with sauce, parmesan zucchini
Wednesday: steak, couscous, broccoli
Thursday: THANKSGIVING DINNER (see a couple of recipes below)
Friday: Thanksgiving leftovers
Saturday: Italian tuna sandwiches, carrot sticks
Sunday: Southwest salad

Beef Stew
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg Lowry’s beef stew seasoning mix
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 cups chopped potatoes
1 pkg chopped beef (the package should say “Beef for stewing”)
Boil all ingredients until cooked through (about 40-45 minutes). Drain enough water out that the stew will not be too watery. Add the seasoning packet and stir.
Note: Also a great crock pot recipe!

Pasta with sauce
Use whatever kind of pasta you like. I always use jarred sauce. I think this week, I’ll use alfredo… If you want to add some meatballs, go for it. (It’s a vegetarian night for us).

Parmesan zucchini
3 zucchinis, sliced lengthwise in ¼ or ½ inch slices
2 cloves garlic, pressed
Parmesan cheese
Place zucchini slices in a baking pan. Sprinkle garlic over the slices. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes until tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Couscous, steak, broccoli
(This is our last bit of steak from Angel Food … sniff sniff).
Chad will grill our steaks after I marinate them. For the couscous, I use the boxed kind from Albertson’s (Far East is the brand). I’ll steam the broccoli and just put salt and pepper on it.

Thanksgiving dinner: We’re eating dinner with our friends at their house. We’re buying a ham this year, instead of cooking a turkey. I’m making a couple of dishes, and she’s making some. I’m just going to put down two recipes that I’ll make. They are SUPER yummy, and the pumpkin dumpcake is TO DIE FOR…it’s so great because of all the butter! Read on…

Sweet Potato Casserole
4 cups yams, peeled and cooked
1 cup white sugar (or brown for that matter!)
¾ cup margarine or butter, melted
1 tsp nutmeg (I always add more because I like that spice)
2 cups mini marshmallows
4 eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp cinnamon (I add more, like 2 tsp)
1 cup coconut, optional

for the topping:
1 ½ cups crushed cornflakes
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup melted butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 400. Grease 9x13 glass baking dish. In large bowl, mash potatoes, sugar, eggs, margarine, evaporated milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, and marshmallows (and coconut if you want). Put mixture in baking dish. Bake 20 minutes in oven.
In small bowl, mix the ingredients for the topping. Spread topping over casserole, Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Note: if you prefer, you can sprinkle the marshmallows on the top with the other topping. That’s what I did last time.

Pumpkin Dumpcake
30 oz can pumpkin pie mix (NOT pumpkin!)
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks butter (I told you there was lots of butter … it’s so worth it!)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Mix pumpkin pie mix, milk, and eggs together. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the top. Slice the sticks of butter into very thin slices, and place them over the top of the cake mix. Sprinkle pecans over the top (optional). Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
YOU’LL HEAR ANGELS SINGING WHEN YOU EAT THIS! IT IS SO GOOD!

Italian tuna sandwiches (makes 1 sandwich)
When we went to Italy in 2004, we order a tuna sandwich from a stand, expecting it to be mixed with mayonnaise. But it was more like this, and it was delish!
2 slices bread, toasted
½ can of tuna, drained
1 slice of mozzarella cheese
mayonnaise
mustard
¼ avocado, sliced
sliced onion
sliced tomato
Spread mayonnaise on one piece of toast and mustard on the other. Lay the tuna on top of one piece of bread. Add the slice of cheese. Add slices of onion, avocado, and tomato.
Serve with carrot sticks and/or cucumber slices.

Southwest Salad
(This recipe is really easy and quick. And it's a good vegetarian meal. Think of all the money you're saving not buying meat!)
1 can corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 pkg Knorr Lipton Spanish Rice mix, cooked
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup picante sauce
½ cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
2 Tbsp lime juice
Mix all ingredients together and serve.

Tagged by Rena

2008-11-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

7 Things I Can do:
1. Read cool books
2. creative writing
3. Clean
4. Cook yummy food
5. Organize and de-clutter
6. Be a (pretty) good mommy
7. Listen and sympathize

7 Things I Cannot do:
1. sleep in past 7 am (oh, the sacrifices I make because of my children...)
2. Run as many miles as Rena
3. Be calm, cool, and collected in stressful circumstances
4. Take my time
5. Forgive easily (It's terrible; I know)
6. Be a size 4
7. Shop as much as I'd like to

7 Things that attracted me to Chad:
1. his love for God
2. his analytical mind
3. his love of music
4. his calm and easy-going nature
5. he thinks I'm beautiful!!!
6. his patience
7. his desire to make me happy

7 Things I say most often:
1. I have a crush on Edward Cullen
2. Ethan,please stop whining
3. Benji, stop fussing
4. Chad, please take out the trash
5. Cairo, don't vomit on the carpet again!
6. Lord, give me patience
7. God, help me

7 Celebrity Admirations
This is totally shallow, but the only reason I like these people is because they are beautiful
1. Angelina Jolie
2. Anne Hathaway
3. Penelope Cruz
4. Reece Witherspoon
5. Jessica Alba
6. Daniel Pattinson (a new favorite!!)
7. Katherine Heigl

7 Favorite Foods
1. chocolate chip cookies
2. oatmeal raisin cookies
3. brownies
4. dark chocolate
5. tri-colored potatoes with yellow curry sauce from Joe's
6, Wing stop wings with lemon pepper sauce
7. The Barefoot Contessa's curried chicken salad recipe

7 People to tag:
1. Brooke W.
2. Bridget B.
3. Michelle P
4. Jen H.
5. Jessica R.
6. Whitney D.
7. Amber S.

Menu for Nov 17-23

2008-11-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

Monday: yum yum potatoes, cooked carrots
Tuesday: barbeque chicken pizza, green salad
Wednesday: bacon wraps, sweet potato fries
Thursday: sausage pasta dish, broccoli
Friday: take out
Saturday: tortellini with pesto sauce, garlic bread, green salad
Sunday: split pea soup with ham

Yum yum potatoes
(This is a dish I made for MOPS recently. It was yummy, so I’m making it for dinner. I’ll use fat free sour cream and 98% fat free cream of soups so that it won’t be too terrible).
1 large bag frozen hashbrowns
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 medium onion, chopped and sautéed
1 ½ cups sour cream
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese
Mix all ingredients together and pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour; let sit for 10 minutes.

Barbeque chicken pizza
1 pizza dough from Joe’s
barbeque sauce
½ a purple onion, cut in ½ inch long slices
1 chicken breast, cooked and diced
mozzarella cheese
Roll out pizza dough and place onto a pizza pan. Spread barbeque sauce over the dough. Sprinkle with onions. Put the diced chicken in a bowl and cover each piece with barbeque sauce. Sprinkle the chicken on the pizza. Cover with cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
Serve with a green salad.

Bacon Wraps
8 slices bacon
4 (10 inch) flour tortillas
4 tablespoons Ranch dressing
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and sliced
1 tomato, chopped
1 cup shredded lettuce
Microwave (or pan-fry) the bacon. Warm tortillas in microwave for about 10 seconds each. Spread 1 tablespoon Ranch dressing down the center of each tortilla. Layer bacon, avocado, tomato and lettuce over the dressing. Roll the tortilla around the other ingredients.
Serve with sweet potato fries from Trader Joe’s.

Sausage pasta dish
1 lb pasta (I like the spiral ones)
1 large jar of marinara pasta sauce
1 pkg spicy Italian sausage links (uncooked)
½ onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
Squeeze the sausage out of the links and brown it in a pan. Drain and set aside. In the same pan, sauté the garlic and onion. Cook the pasta according the directions on the package. Put pasta, pasta sauce, sausage, and onions into a 9x13 pan. Mix together and smooth the top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, top with cheese, and bake 5 minutes more.

Tortellini with pesto sauce, garlic bread, green salad
I bought a package of dry tortellini from Joe’s. You just boil it and put a sauce on it. I like Knorr’s creamy pesto sauce mix. You just add milk and olive oil, and it’s really yummy. I’ll serve it with garlic bread and a green salad. I like the pre-made garlic bread that comes in the foil package at Albertson’s; it’s really tasty. If you prefer, you can always buy frozen garlic bread, or make your own.

Split pea soup with ham
(We get dry beans, peas, or lentils with WIC, and I got peas last time. I’ve never tried pea soup, but I’ve heard it’s tasty).
½ pound green split peas (dry)
4 cups water
1 ham hock or meaty ham bone (I’ll probably use a package of pre-diced ham)
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped carrots
½ tsp salt
1 garlic clove, pressed
Wash, sort, and drain the peas. Combine all ingredients in large pot with lid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered, approximately one hour or until cooked through; stir occasionally. Before serving, remove ham hock. Cut ham off bone, dice, and add to soup.

Menu for Nov 10-16

2008-11-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

I’m not buying any new meat this week; we’re using the rest our Angel Food meat. I’m trying some thrilling new recipes (the fried chicken, the quiche, and the ribs). Oh boy, I’m excited!
Monday: chicken curry with vegetables
Tuesday: quiche and fresh fruit
Wednesday: steak, potatoes, and grilled corn
Thursday: oven-fried chicken, dinner rolls, Parmesan zucchini
Friday: take out
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: Ribs, baked yams, peas

Chicken curry with vegetables
This recipe does take awhile. I work on it throughout the afternoon while the kids are napping.
1 onion sliced (I use purple)
fresh or frozen broccoli
2 chicken breasts
about 3 cups of diced potatoes (I like the tri-colored potatoes from Trader Joe’s; for this recipe, I’d use about half the bag)
six carrots, sliced
one bottle of red or yellow curry sauce from Joe’s (see note below)
Heat oven to 350. Place chicken breasts in a baking pan and drizzle both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides with olive oil. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Take out, turn over the breasts, and add the sliced onions. Place back in oven for about 20 more minutes. Put chicken and onions to the side.
Place potatoes into the baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. Put in oven (at 350) for about 45 minutes, stirring once or twice as it cooks.
Meanwhile, steam the carrots and broccoli in a pot. Drain and set aside. Dice the chicken when it is cool enough.
Toss the potatoes, chicken, cooked carrots and broccoli, and onion slices together. Serve with curry sauce over it.
Note: If you don’t live near a Joe’s, you can make your own curry sauce with one can of coconut milk or light coconut milk and some red curry paste or yellow curry powder. (Red is more spicy than yellow). Just heat up the milk in a saucepan and whisk in the curry to taste. You don’t need much red curry paste to make it spicy, so be careful.

Quiche
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, chopped
5 eggs
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1/2 cup milk
1 (8 ounce) package Cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste
½ a can of Rotel, drained
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until soft. Whisk together eggs, Ranch dressing and milk. Stir in shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in ½ a can of Rotel (drained). Pour egg mixture into a glass baking dish (8x8 or round). Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with fresh fruit.

Steak, potatoes, grilled corn
It’s grillin’ night! I’ll marinate the steak all day, and Chad will grill it. For the corn, you can either wrap it in foil before you grill it, or put it straight on the grill if you prefer it a blackened.
For the potatoes, cut into small pieces (I’ll use the remainder of the tri-colored potatoes from earlier this week). Place potatoes in a baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring once or twice as they cook.

Oven-Fried Chicken (from The Barefoot Contessa: Family Style)
About 8 chicken pieces (I’ll use breasts, drumsticks, and thighs)
1 quart buttermilk (to make your own buttermilk, add 1 Tbsp of vinegar to each cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
vegetable oil
Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat over to 350. Combine flour, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Take chicken out of buttermilk and thoroughly cover each piece with flour mixture. Pour oil into a large stockpot to a depth of 1 inch and heat to 360 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Place several pieces of chicken into the pot at a time, fry for about 3 minutes on each side until coating is light brown. Remove chicken from oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan (I don’t have a rack, so I’m just going to use a regular baking pan). Allow oil to return to 360 before frying the next batch. When all chicken is fried, bake for 30-40 minutes, until it is no longer pink inside.
I’ll serve with store-bought dinner rolls (or maybe the pre-made Pillsbury ones) and steamed broccoli.

Parmesan zucchini
3 zucchinis, sliced lengthwise in ¼ or ½ inch slices
2 cloves garlic, pressed
Parmesan cheese
Place zucchini slices in a baking pan. Sprinkle garlic over the slices. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes until tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Campbell’s Honey Barbeque Ribs
Four pounds pork spareribs (we only have 1 ½ racks of ribs)
1 (10.5 ounce) can Campbell's® Condensed French Onion Soup
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Cut ribs into serving pieces. Place ribs in 6-quart saucepot. Cover with water. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 30 minutes. Drain. Mix soup, ketchup, honey, garlic powder and black pepper in 2-quart saucepan. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook 5 minutes. Place ribs on lightly oiled grill rack over medium-hot coals. Grill 20 minutes or until no longer pink and glazed, turning and brushing often with soup mixture.

Baked yams
I bake them like regular baked potatoes. I peel them first, rinse them off, dry with a paper towel, and wrap in foil. They need to bake for at least an hour at about 350. If they’re too tasteless, you can add cinnamon and a little sugar.

Vampires and Werewolves

2008-11-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to say that I am completely obsessed, consumed, and bewitched by the Twilight books. I read the first one in 3 days, and I'm working on the second one. It is so hard to put down. These books are INCREDIBLE! Everything else in my life is being placed on the back burner because I've been so addicted: blogging, emails, dirty dishes; everything except my children, and some sleep. Oh my gosh, these books are amazing! There is just nothing more inspiring than a great love story. I think I want to start a cult of people who are in love with these books. If you have read them, join my cult! If you have not read them, you must.
I really hope the final book has some closure, because Edward Cullen has been haunting my every thought.
BTW, the author is Stephanie Meyer, and the books are Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

Menu for Nov 3-9

2008-11-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

Last week, we picked up our first box of Angel Food (angelfoodministries.com), so we get to have steak this week.
Monday: Greek grilled cheese and tomato soup
Tuesday: pork chops with green beans and rice
Wednesday: chicken fajitas
Thursday: couscous, steak, broccoli
Friday: take out
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: hotdogs, green salad

Greek grilled cheese and tomato soup
(Both Chad and my neighbor’s husband Pedro get home late on Monday nights. We usually eat together outside our houses at the picnic table while the kids run wild. Silvina wants me to show her to make the grilled cheese sandwiches this week, so we’re having them again. And that’s okay because they’re yummy).
1 ½ teaspoons butter
2 slices whole wheat bread
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
2 slices mozzarella cheese
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tomato, thinly sliced
1/4 avocado, sliced
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Butter one side of each slice of
bread. On the non buttered side of one slice, layer the feta
cheese, mozzarella cheese, red onion, tomato and avocado. Top
with the other slice of bread with the butter side out.
Fry the sandwich until golden brown on each side, about 2
minutes per side. The second side always cooks faster.
Serve with tomato soup.

Pork Chops with green beans and rice
6 Tbsp Italian dressing
2 Tbsp apricot jam (I’ll use the orange marmalade already in my fridge)
4 pork chops (about 1 lb)
1 ½ cups minute rice, uncooked
2 cups green beans
1 can chicken broth
4 sheets of tin foil
Preheat oven to 350. Mix dressing and jam with whisk. Brush 2 Tbsp on chops. Let stand for 10 minutes. Place rice into centers of sheets of foil, top with beans. Make foil into a bowl. Gradually add chicken broth and remaining dressing mixture over beans. Close foil packets. Grill packets 20-30 minutes till pork is cooked through.
Note: Cook them with a sheet pan underneath to catch any drippings that come out so you don’t have to clean your stove.

Fajitas
I don’t have a recipe written down for this. I heat up some oil and sauté sliced peppers and onions for about 4 or 5 minutes. Then I add some water and let them cook till they’re really soft. I add a packet of taco seasoning, or you can sprinkle fajita seasoning over it.
I’ll be using the chicken fajita strips (pre-seasoned!!) I got from AngelFood. If you cook your own chicken, throw it in there (already diced) with the peppers and onions and cook it in the oil for about 8 minutes.
Serve with tortillas, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes.

Couscous, steak, broccoli
Chad will grill our steaks after I marinade it. For the couscous, I use the boxed kind from Albertson’s (Far East is the brand). Even Ethan eats it! Joe’s has a whole grain couscous that is fiber-licious, but it’s more dry. I’ll steam the broccoli and just put salt and pepper on it.

Hotdogs
Need I explain hotdogs? Either Chad will grill them or I’ll pan-cook them. I might serve them with chili … from a can.

The Kidds go to the pumpkin patch

2008-10-29T16:54:00.001-07:00

Ethan, Benji, and I went to the pumpkin patch today with the Verano playgroup friends. Here's the 3 of us right after we got there...while we're all in good moods.

Benji poses with the pumpkins.
Ethan clambers over pumpkins with Kate.
Ethan pets a goat in the petting zoo. He also closely examined some fresh goat urine before I could stop him.
A lovely self-portrait.
King Ethan and Queen Kate on their throne.
A Kodak moment -- look at that smile!

Boy oh boy, was I tired when we got home! It was 90 degrees today, and we were all sweaty. The patch was also very dusty, so Ethan and I had to take a bath before naps.

What we've been up to the last few days

2008-10-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Chad is gone in the morning for part of a UCI philosophy conference. Benji is sick with a runny nose, so I can't leave him in the nursery at church anyway. We stay home and Benji takes a short morning nap. In the afternoon, we have friends from Texas come. They are staying overnight. Ethan starts to get congested in the evening, and he hardly eats any dinner.

Monday: Chad's gone in the morning to work out. Our overnight guests are sleeping on the couch bed downstairs. When the kids wake up earlier than usual and our guests are NOT awake, I contain them upstairs for nearly an hour and a half (!!!), despite my subtle hints for the guests to wake up by going downstairs with both children to get Ethan a drink and make him some toast. The guests finally get up at 8:20, after the kids have been awake almost 2 hours. I'm already exhausted.

Chad's taking most of the day off to be with our guests. They go on a long walking tour of UCI, while I stay home and Benji takes a long morning nap (2 hours!) Then we walk to Aldrich Park and have a picnic, then we put the kids down for a nap. Ethan wakes up after an hour and a half, and vomits over the side of the crib. When I get him, I run for the bathroom and catch the rest of it in a towel. It's very mucousy. Benji wakes up early too.

That night, Ethan eats a lot of pizza, and after being in bed about 45 minutes, vomits copious amounts ALL over (carpet, sheet, mattress pad, crib bumper, blanket, and BLANKIE! How will he sleep without blankie while it's in the wash? (He does; I was amazed).

During the night, Ethan wakes up FIVE times, and Benji wakes up once. We are feeling weary.

Tuesday: I contain the kids upstairs for about 45 minutes, but this morning, I let them make as much noise as they want. The guests get up this morning at 7:40. I can't go to music class this morning since Ethan is sick, and we have to quarantine ourselves from other kids.

Chad takes the guests to the train station around 9 am. I start to clean up the aftermath.

We are allowed to play with Gugi since he's been sick with the same thing. This is my sanity today. Ethan seems okay; we play outside for nearly 2 hours, then he seems not so great, so we go in, and he watches a movie. We eat some lunch, then I put the kids down for naps.

Benji wakes up every 20 minutes for an hour and a half. Ethan wakes up after about an hour crying. I have to call Silvina to take Benji for me while I tend to Ethan. He sits in my lap for 30 minutes, heaving and almost vomiting, but never actually vomiting. Then he says he's ready to play and seems like a different kid.

We play outside till Chad comes home at 5:15. I gratefully escape to the gym for step aerobics, but work out very hard and come back in a worse mood because I'm so tired.

Ethan eats crackers for the dinner, goes to bed, and wakes up 5 times again. Benji wakes up once.

Wednesday: Ethan seems to be feeling much better. I'm hoping for a better day, and I think it will be. He didn't throw up yesterday, so I guess he's on the mend. He still has some stuff in his throat, and he voice doesn't sound great. We're going to Tanaka Farms (a pumpkin patch) today with the play group...

Menu for Oct 27-Nov 2

2008-10-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

Next week’s menu
On Saturday, we pick up our first box of Angel Food (angelfoodministries.com), so I won’t be buying meat for awhile.
Monday: Margarita pizza, caprese
Tuesday: spaghetti and meatballs, frozen veggies
Wednesday: pumpkin soup, garlic bread
Thursday: hamburgers with frozen sweet potato fries from Joe’s
Friday: take out (have you noticed? This is a tradition we FAITHFULLY carry out every Friday night)
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: pork chops with applesauce and stuffing, broccoli

Margarita pizza
1 whole wheat bagged dough (at Trader’s Joe’s)
Pizza sauce
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Half a purple onion, cut into small strips
Tomatoes, sliced
Parmesan cheese
Roll out pizza dough and put onto pizza pan. Spread a layer of pizza sauce over the dough. Sprinkle with onion strips. Cover with mozzarella cheese. Place slices of tomato over the cheese. Sprinkle a little parmesan cheese over the top. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Let sit for another 10-15 minutes.

Caprese (Tomato, Mozzarella, and basil salad)
Slice some tomatoes, however thick you want. Slice fresh mozzarella and layer on top of tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Place fresh basil leaves on top of the mozzarella.

Spaghetti, meatballs, and frozen veggies
The AngelFood box contains pasta, a jar of marinara sauce, frozen prepared meatballs, and bag of frozen veggies. Presto! Dinner is done!
I’ll make home-made meatballs another day…

Soup from a Pumpkin
(The pumpkin soup recipe is from Ethan’s Highlights High Five magazine. He wants to try it out, so I’ll be letting him “help” me cook. They say to serve it in a scooped out, clean pumpkin, which I will have on hand anyway to use for pumpkin carving the following day).
2 cups canned pumpkin
one apple, diced
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup apple juice
½ cup half and half (I’ll probably use 2% milk)
Put pumpkin in a bowl. Add sugar, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir. In a pot, cook the apple in the butter for about 5 minutes, till soft. Add the pumpkin mixture to the pot and slowly add broth and juice. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil. Add the half and half and serve.
I will serve it with pre-made garlic bread from Albertson’s.

Hamburgers with frozen sweet potato fries
Chad will be grilling our hamburgers. I’ll serve it with frozen sweet potato fries from Trader Joe’s (they are TO DIE FOR!)

Pork chops with applesauce and stuffing
2-3 pork chops
1 pkg stuffing mix for chicken
1 ¾ cup very hot water
4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pour stuffing mix into a mixing bowl. Add the hot water. Mix together and leave for about 5 minutes. Spray bottom of pan (I’ll use a glass 8x8 dish). Lay pork on the bottom of pan. After stuffing mix has soaked up hot water, layer the stuffing mix over the pork chops. Cover with foil. Cook at 375 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make applesauce. In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Mash with a potato masher.
When pork and stuffing is done, serve with applesauce on top.

Next week's menu

2008-10-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

Next week’s menu

This week, I’m not buying any new meat. I have a bunch of frozen chicken that needs to be eaten before it gets too old, and I’m going to use the shrimp leftover from one of last week’s recipes.
Monday: Fiesta Chicken Pasta with tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad
Tuesday: curried lentils with endive, walnuts, and blue cheese salad
Wednesday: shrimp scampi with asparagus
Thursday: Greek grilled cheese and tomato soup
Friday: take out
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: chicken enchilada skillet and broccoli

Fiesta chicken pasta
2 cups uncooked spiral pasta (I’ll use whole wheat pasta)
1 Tbsp oil
1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups chopped red peppers
¼ cup Italian dressing
1 Tbsp chili powder
½ cup salsa
½ cup sour cream
½ cup shredded cheese, optional (I’ll use mozzarella, since I bought a large 2-pack of it at Sam’s)
Cook pasta. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet and cook chicken. Add peppers and dressing, and chili powder; cook 3 minutes. Stir in salsa and sour cream. Toss pasta with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with cheese.

Tomato, Mozzarella, and basil salad
Slice some tomatoes, however thick you want. Slice mozzarella and layer on top of tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Place fresh basil leaves on top of the mozzarella.

Curried Lentils
(We get lentils free with WIC. I don’t love the taste or texture of them, but they are incredibly fiber-licious, so I eat them. And they are full of protein, so it’s a good vegetarian meal).
2 cups (1 pound) lentils (I use green ones)
1 large onion, diced
1 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp curry paste
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 clove pressed garlic
1 can tomato sauce (14 or 15 oz can)
Wash lentils in cold water. Put in a pot with water to cover, simmer covered till tender (add more water if necessary). In large skillet, sauté onions in the oil. Combine curry paste, curry powder, tumeric, cumin, chili powder, salt, sugar, and garlic in mixing bowl. Mix well. Add curry mixture to onions and cook over high heat, stirring constantly for 1 or 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce and reduce heat.
When lentils are tender, drain briefly. Mix the curry base into the lentils and serve immediately.

Endive, walnuts, and blue cheese salad
(I’m trying endive, never tried it before. It better be good because its was expensive! The blue cheese crumbles are leftover from last week).
Cut endive leaves to bite size. Sprinkle walnuts and blue cheese crumbles over the leaves.
Serve with the following vinaigrette:
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp white wine (I’ll probably substitute rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar)
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp pepper
½ cup olive oil
Whisk all ingredients (except olive oil) together. While whisking, slowly add olive oil until the dressing is emulsified.

Shrimp scampi with linguine
Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
1 ½ lbs linguine
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
5 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp minced garlic (about 9 cloves)
2 lbs shrimp (I’m only using the ¾ lb that I have leftover from last week)
½ tsp pepper
¾ cup chopped fresh parsley
grated zest of one lemon
½ lemon, sliced in half-rounds
½ cup lemon juice
Drizzle oil in pot of boiling water with 1 Tbsp salt. Add linguine. Cook for 7-10 minutes. In another large pan, melt butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté one minute (be careful; the garlic burns easily!) Add the shrimp, 1 Tbsp of salt, and the pepper and sauté about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, add parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon slices. Toss to combine.
When pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and put it back in the pot. Add the shrimp and sauce and toss well.

Asparagus
The trick to cooking good asparagus. Boil water in a large pan. When it comes to a boil, add the asparagus and cook for 2 or 3 minutes ONLY (depending on thickness of asparagus). Drain immediately and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with parmesan cheese or salt or whatever spice you like.

Greek grilled cheese and tomato soup (A NEW FAMILY FAVORITE!)
1 ½ teaspoons butter
2 slices whole wheat bread
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
2 slices mozzarella cheese
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tomato, thinly sliced
1/4 avocado, sliced
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Butter one side of each slice of
bread. On the non buttered side of one slice, layer the feta
cheese, mozzarella cheese, red onion, tomato and avocado. Top
with the other slice of bread with the butter side out.
Fry the sandwich until golden brown on each side, about 2
minutes per side. The second side always cooks faster.
Serve with tomato soup.

Chicken enchilada skillet
1 Tbsp oil
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 can fat-free chicken broth
½ cup Ranch dressing
2 Tbsp flour
6 tortillas, cut into small pieces
1 cup shredded cheese
½ cup salsa
Heat oil in skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook about 7 minutes, or until cooked through. Mix broth, dressing, and flour until well-blended; gradually add to skillet, stirring constantly. Add tortillas; stir to combine. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
Sprinkle with cheese, cover. Simmer 3-5 minutes, or till cheese is melted. Top with salsa.