So our landlord decided to put in new counter tops in our kitchen - yea! It was like an early Christmas, sort of. Our counter tops weren't horrible before. They were laminate and a nice color. It wasn't peeling off at the edges, but there were parts in the middle that didn't stick to whatever was underneath. But the landlord is trying to make the house nicer so he can sell it when we move out -- although with the housing market the way it is, he might try to get renters for another year.
Now, if you've ever heard me talk about my landlord before, you know that I like to complain about his "handyman" projects. But I'm not really complaining - I'm very happy with our home and we have a great landlord. It's just that certain things about my house make my inner self chuckle and I want to share that with others. He's no Bob the Builder. In fact, he's in the medical field and our cozy home is just an investment opportunity for him. But he likes to do his own home improvement projects. And to this we attribute the following: in our showers, the hot water is cold and the cold water is hot; the pipe for the shower head is not secured inside the wall, and so when I try to change the direction of the spray, I can feel the whole pipe move behind the tiled wall; 2 drawers don't really pull out in my kitchen unless you open the dishwasher or the oven (although the new counter tops have solved the oven drawer problem); a corner drawer only opens half way because the knob from the next drawer stops it; there's a hole in the brick outside the house where we can see the back of a kitchen cabinet. So we were very happy to learn that our counter tops would be installed professionally.
The men came on Thursday to install the counter tops. We were conveniently out of town (staying at the historic Martha Washington Inn while Coulson had a sleep over with his best friends Alex and Noah. And we also had a great time with Brock and Jennifer, Alex and Noah's parents. And Charlie played with his womb-buddy Taylor - they were born 2 1/2 weeks apart. And Chester had a great time with their dogs Murry and Abby. It's great fun to visit them - something for everyone!) And we returned Friday evening to our new kitchen!
Ah, yes, our new counters came without plumbing. Apparently the people at Lowes forgot to make an appointment with the plumber on Friday and thus the plumber would not be coming until Monday. MONDAY. This was Friday night so there would be Saturday and Sunday and 2 small kids who like to eat and make messes. My kitchen sink gets a lot of use! Our landlord said he "had words" with the people at Lowes, but apparently that didn't change anything. Although we were fully upset about this, we did take solace in one word: plumber. As in, a professional.
My weekend without a working sink helped me realize what a total priss I am. "One billion people do not have access to safe and affordable drinking water, and 2.4 billion people live in conditions lacking adequate sanitation," and here I am all pissed because I have to walk all the way to bathroom to get water (source: Department for International Development, UK). And do I "rough it" and do all my dishes in the bathroom sink and lug water to my kitchen for cooking and cleaning? Heck no! I dig in my heels, refuse to cook or clean and jump on the opportunity to eat out all weekend. But the situation did remind me of how many privileges I take for granted and it renewed my gratitude for my many blessings. And I did find an eager substitute for my garbage disposal.
On Sunday afternoon, my landlord called and said he was going to come over and try to install the sink faucet himself. Ahhhggggg! First, it's Sunday afternoon already, the damage has been done. Second, he's going to try to install it himself! We all know how the bathroom turned out. So he showed up with a Plumbing for Dummies type book and a friend and they tinkered around in the kitchen for a while. Finally they started to leave. "We can't do it. We need too many parts from the old sink," he told me. "Oh, the old sink is just sitting in the laundry room," I thoughtlessly replied. %$!^$%#*&! When will I learn to shut up! So they went back to work. Fortunately, they were still unable to fix the sink and for some reason he went out and bought a brand new disposal for the plumber to install.
Long story short, the plumber came on Monday morning and I like my new kitchen a lot!
For many people, the day after Thanksgiving is all about crazy shopping and great sales. In our family, the day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the Christmas season! Casey and I both love Christmas and we don't see any point of delaying the decorations and the music for later in December. And this year Thanksgiving was real early, so our Christmas season is even longer!!!!
We celebrated a warm Thanksgiving at my brother's home. We all had a great time and the kids loved being able to play together. The temperature was in the 70s, so the kids could play outside - bikes were the favorite activity. Dinner was delicious. Casey made the turkey and mashed potatoes (Thanks to Cook's Country for the recipes). Nathan made the stuffing. Kristine made sweet potatoes, wild rice, green beans. I contributed a pumpkin pie (Thanks to Libby's pie mix in a can!). Yum, I love all the traditional Turkey Day foods!
The next day, we left my brother's house and headed towards the mountains for our 2nd annual Christmas Tree Hunting Expedition. It's so Norman Rockwell to go to the mountains as a family and pick out your tree - and we love all that sappy family stuff. We even sang Christmas songs in the car together! Don't tell anyone.
Please forgive me if I don't blog frequently. Casey is in the process of interviewing for jobs, so we're in the middle of a pretty big decision that will change our lives forever. Plus it's Christmas time, so we've a lot of extra stuff going on too.
***** Update on the project for the school in Kenya - The school would like to buy sweaters for each of the students. Aside from providing the basic need of warmth for the children, I think it also helps them to feel proud about their school and their hard work and develops a sense of community among the students (all the sweaters will be the same, like a school uniform, which is pretty important in many cultures). In all, the teachers estimate that it will cost $300 to buy all the sweaters. So all funds raised will go towards this sweater project.
*** I fixed the link, so if you tried earlier and were confused by the "This is great" link, try it again! ***
Several months ago, my friend Anne introduced me to dooce, a professional blog. The writer of the blog, Heather, also happens to be a stay-at-home-mom whose daughter was born the day before Coulson and their similarities are striking. She's so brutally honest about her eccentric, quirky, stubborn three-year-old and it's such a relief to know that there are other kids out there like Coulson. (I have a nice rant about Coulson's latest quirk all ready for another blog entry...)
She just re-designed her website, so her most recent entries aren't that interesting to new readers. But it's her entries about her daughter Leta that I love, so here are some links to some of the ones that make me think, "This is just like my life!"
This is great - From when Leta was almost 2 years old - this could/probably has happened at my house!
From now on all questions will be answered with Because
She also writes an entry once a month as a letter to Leta, telling all about the things going on in Leta's life that month. (Thus the inspiration for my Celebration blogs of Coulson and Charlie.)
My parents are in Kenya this winter serving as substitute missionaries for a few months. They left in October and they'll return in January. Part of their job is to minister to the people living in the slums. (It sounds so un-PC to say slums, but I don't think there's another word to descibe these living condtions.) If you're familiar with the movie The Constant Gardner, it's the same area where Rachel Weisz's character does her charity work.
My mom is volunteering in a school. This is how she describes it:
On Tuesday's rather than witness, I have chosen to go to a school that has 120 very, poor children. 22 of them have both parents, 58 have only one parent due to abandonment or death by HIV, 40 of them are completely orphaned. They are too poor to have a uniform, many come barefoot and they are so dirty and ragged. But this school is doing a great job with 6 teachers who volunteer their time to teach. Then at noon all of the teachers are cooking rice, ugali, or slicing cabbage or greens for the childrens lunch while they play. I am so humbled by their ability juxtaposed to their love for the kids. I was looking at the science lesson on the blackboard and the sixth grade was studying perimeciums and amoebas. They are multiplying and dividing fractions. I was very impressed. The classrooms are the size of your computer play room and they will have 25 kids packed in there. I hardly have room to stand in front of them when I tell them the Bible story each week on flannelgraph. I am doing a 4 week series on Joseph.
I am planning to send a monetary Christmas gift to this school so the teachers can buy whatever they need most. If anyone wants to help, email me by December 1 and tell me how much you want to contribute. I don't think it's tax-deductible since I was just planning to send the money to my mom to give to the teachers, but I'll let you know if that changes. Thanks!
I am grateful to have the honor to present to you - Super Why - modeled after a new PBS show for little kids.
He looks so serious! (But seriously, he has worn variations on this costume for about 5 days straight.) So you don't need to worry about me, Super Why is diligently keeping me safe from imminent peril. With the power to read, Super Why and the Super Readers can change the story and save the day! And really they can. They can give Humpty Dumpty a slide so he get down from the wall safely. They can help Goldilocks clean up after herself so the 3 bears don't get upset. And they can help the spider smile so he doesn't frighten Miss Muffet away. Really, Super Why and the Super Readers are amazing!
Charlie may be young, but he already has a well developed personality. He loves life and when he looks at me and flashes his beaming smile, it can turn the worst of days into a cherished treasure. He adores his older brother and his daddy and Chester. When we all cuddle in bed in the mornings, he loves to snuggle up next to Chester and give him a big hug.
He is just starting to talk and his first few words provide striking insight into his priorities in life: bah (ball), boo-oo(balloon), bah-ah (banana), buh-uh (belly button), buba (brother - Coulson hates this name for himself!) and bye (bye). Are you noticing any alliteration? Maybe he'll be an English teacher when he grows up. I've also noticed that he consistently refers to Chester and other dogs as "boh." Perhaps he's confused because he hears us call Chester "bad dog" too much. He used to say Da-da for Casey, but we haven't heard it in a while. And I only hear ma-ma when he's upset. Sigh. He's also learning a few signs. He likes to sign "more" and "milk" and we're working on "all done" and "please."
Ball was his first word and to him, a ball is like oil - worth abandoning all rationality and other values in pursuit of a perfect bouncy sphere. At the church nursery a few weeks ago, he realized that I was about to abandon him in a room of apparently cruel and menacing dictator-like nursery workers so he clung to my shirt with a death grip as he started to fight for the fate of his life. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a ball. "Bah!" he exclaimed as he launched out of my arms and claimed his prize, completely forgetting about me.
This kid loves to eat. He won't let me feed him anymore, he grabs the spoon and feeds himself. It's messy, but he does manage to eat more food than he wears. He just shovels it in. I'm so proud of him because he'll eat our regular table food, including vegetables, so sometimes I'll pat myself on the back for a job well done. But then I'll remember that he also loves to eat crayons and dog food, so chances are good that someday his taste buds will be more discriminating than they are now and he'll stop eating his veggies. Well, there's always ketchup. We can't keep the red bottle of that stuff on the table because he insists on more more more. The other day he dipped his peanut butter sandwich in ketchup.
Everyday routines fascinate him. He loves to brush his teeth. We used to keep the bathroom doors shut all the time because he liked to watch toys float in the toilet, but now we have to keep it shut because he likes to climb up the step stool and try to brush his teeth. Which isn't bad, but I don't want to give him the chance to see if it floats also. And he loves getting dressed. He will often bring me some item of clothing for me to put on him. No need to take off what he's already wearing - he wants the shorts on top of his pants. Once he wanted to wear a pair of Coulson's underwear over his diaper. It was very cute. And he loves wearing socks and shoes. This morning he was upset because I couldn't hold him as I put on my own shoes and socks. So I found some socks and shoes for him and he quieted right down. Other favorite activities include shutting doors, emptying out kitchen cabinets, throwing objects in the trash can (with all the stuff we've found in the trash can, we hate to think about the items we didn't notice! It's now the first place I look when Chester's food bowl is missing.)
He is a handful, but I'm so grateful to have my hands full. I'm sure Casey and I are in for quite an adventure in life as Coulson and Charlie grow up. We're looking forward to it!
My blog just isn't complete without a detailed bragging about my wonderful boys. This is mostly for me because I hope it can serve as a memory album as I continue to update it through the months and years as they grow up.
How do I start with Coulson? From the start, he has been a child who sincerely loves to interact with others. Close friends and family are very important to him and he cherishes all his special relationships. He keeps his circle of friends small, but it's great to see how much he loves these people (and you know who you are, if you're lucky enough to be in his circle.)
Strangers are another story. He does not like it when strangers come up and talk to him; it totally puts him out of his comfort zone. And we go to an extremely friendly church, so he pretty much hates "meet and greet" time. And Charlotte is a very friendly city so people are always talking to him at the grocery store and the post office or wherever we go. Charlie is always smiling and flirting with the people to get their attention and they want to be nice and acknowledge the big brother too, so they start asking Coulson questions. Which he hates. It's actually kind of humourous to watch.
But once he gets warmed up to a new person, he's very friendly. He'll start talking and talking and talking. His preschool teacher asked me, "He's not a morning person, is he?" -- Not a morning person? My son, who for 6 months of his life (around age 1 1/2) would wake up at 5 am and nothing, nothing we tried could get him to sleep again! We're thrilled that he sleeps in until sometimes 7am now -- Not a morning person indeed! She says that for the first 20 minutes of class he's real quiet, but then he perks up and he does not stop talking all day. I think it's funny that he has to "warm up" to his teacher and classmates every day after going for 2 months.
He is very imaginative and satisfied with the simplest of playthings (as long as there is another person to play with, he doesn't play by himself). The other morning he put pj pants on his head and started hopping around like a bunny. Tonight he and Casey had a blast with sock puppets. Last week he wanted a saw. "We don't have a toy saw, here's a toy hammer and drill, why don't you use one of these?" I suggest. "No! I need a saw!" Immediately on the verge of a meltdown. I think fast for a solution. "Here's some cardboard, I can cut you a saw out of cardboard." "That would be great!" Immediate attitude change. He was very happy with the saw I made from a cardboard box. Now he wants roller skates. Do you think I can make roller skates from a cardboard box?
He loves stories. Every car ride begins with "Tell me a story." We had to limit it to one story per car ride because otherwise he'd beg for stories non-stop. It has forced me to tap into my own creative juices, which is difficult because creativity doesn't come naturally to me. Sometimes I tell moralistic stories like "The boy who ate too much candy" or a super hero story where Super Helper Boy (a.k.a. Coulson) saves a kid from falling off the slide on the playground. My personal favorite was about a guinea pig who wanted to be a bat. It ended with Casey doing sound effects of a high pitched squeal "Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye -- THUMP!" as the blindfolded guinea pig, who did not actually have an echo-location system, ran into the side of his cage. Casey and Coulson and I were in hysterics! Guess you had to be there.
His mannerisms are adorable. He imitates our serious adult talk and body language. It's very funny to see a three year old cock his head to the side with a very serious face say "well, I'm trying to tell you that ..." When we went to Seattle, we didn't tell him that we would be on an airplane because we knew he'd be really upset that he couldn't go too. He's been talking about flying on airplane for weeks now. But he must have heard us talking to his grandparents and picked up on it, because the day after we got back, we were sitting down at lunch chatting and he sits back, crosses his arms and says, "So, I heard that you were on an airplane," in a casual, yet I-caught-you-red-handed sort of tone.
Coming soon: A Celebration of Charlie...
Today was my church's annual Mission Bazaar. Apparently it's a pretty big event that they do every year. They have handmade crafts, a bake sale, yard sale stuff, nicer second-hand stuff, a silent auction, breakfast and lunch food. Last year they raised over $13,000 for local and world wide mission and relief groups. (Don't yet know how well we did this year.) Since Casey had to work today, I couldn't volunteer to help out during the bazaar, so tried to help out in other ways. I spent a few mornings hanging out with all the old ladies helping them with the
So yesterday I spent the whole day cooking for the bake sale. I've had experience cooking for a bake sale back in Winson-Salem when the absolutely wonderful Resident Spouse Association would have a bake sale to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House twice a year. I've always enjoyed getting a chance to bake delicious yummies without having lots of sinfully caloric chocolate goodies sit around the house for days, which of course I have to eat before they go bad because I have absolutely no will power. So with bake sales, I can bake up a storm, save a little for me and the fam and send the bulk of them away for a good cause.
I made my mom's favorite cinnamon bread, my favorite whoopie pies and my dad and Casey's favorite molasses cookies. Coulson "helped" with a lot of the cooking. Charlie tried to add tootsie rolls to the cinnamon bread and then sprinkled flour all over the counter and floor while emptying out the contents of my silverware drawer. We all had a great day!
Anyway, the point of this post is to give you my favorite recipe. When I was a kid my mom would make these for our classroom birthday parties instead of cupcakes!
WHOOPIE PIES
cookie
- 1/2 cup shortening or butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 2 cups flour
- 1.5 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Cream together shortening and sugar.
- Add egg, flour and other dry ingredients.
- Add milk and vanilla.
- Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet or sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. (I use a cookie scoop, 1 scoop = kid size pie; 2 scoops = bake sale size)
- Bake 7-8 minutes at 425 degrees.
- Cool on cooling rack.
cream filling
- 1/4 cup shortening (crisco)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- half of a 7 oz jar of marshmellow cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- food coloring (optional)
- Combine ingredients in mixer. Beat until fluffy.
- Add food coloring to coordinate with season or festivities!
- Choose 2 cookies of similar size. Spread filling on one cookie and top sandwich with the other cookie.
I usually wrap them individually in cellophane or in sandwich baggies. They should be good at room temp for a couple days, but they also freeze wonderfully. I stick them in my freezer and then pull one out when I want a special treat. They thaw in a matter of minutes. Yummy!
It rained today. And it's still raining now! Much of the southeast is experiencing a severe drought, including all of North Carolina. Over half of NC is designated as "exceptional drought" - the most severe category and many communities have an estimated 3 month supply of water left. Charlotte is "exceptional" and we've been under water restrictions for several weeks. But the drought continues and our fearless leaders are asking us to cut down our water consumption even more. We try to be good citizens and good stewards of the resources God has given us, so Casey and I are racking our brains trying to find ways to use less water. We stopped watering our lawn a long time ago (ok, we're renting, we didn't really care about our lawn in the first place), can't wash our car because of the restrictions, don't have any lawn fountains, don't run the water while we brush our teeth, etc. So in our new efforts to save water, we are trying to take shorter showers. I've even started turning off the water while I lather up and shave - this was a technique I perfected while staying at a campground in St. Petersburg, Russia because the water was ice cold. And since no one ever visits our home, we have loosely adopted Bernie Focker's rule. Well, actually, Coulson's already been following this rule.
I could save more water in the kitchen by using disposable dishes, but I really struggle with it. In my efforts to create less waste and consume less stuff, I have integrated washable, reusable household items into my lifestyle. I clean my house with cloths and mops instead of paper towels, clorox wipes or disposable swiffer pads. I pack Coulson's lunch with plastic containers instead of plastic bags. I never used cloth diapers because the massive amounts of water it takes to clean them offsets the benefits (and my mom, who used cloth, said that disposables we so much easier and motherhood is hard enough). So I just potty trained Coulson early and took him out of diapers maybe before he was completely ready for it. Anyway, using washable stuff is part of my lifestyle, I don't even think about it anymore. So the thought of using paper plates and plastic cups makes me cringe. Ironic how trying to be a good environmentalist can be so conflicting.
So I'm at this conference with Casey and of course there's a big exhibit hall with vendors trying to sell their medical supplies and equipment, including ultrasound machines (Casey's specialty). So I'm walking up to one of the ultrasound booths, and I'm noticing this body on a bed next to the ultrasound machine. The body has on regular socks and athletic shorts (no shirt) and looks really life like. And then, on the next bed demonstrating a different ultrasound machine, is another body, also shirtless and wearing athletic pants and socks. And now I notice that these are not mannequins. These are real living men. Paid models (which means real living good-looking shirtless men). It's a bit unsettling to have these guys just laying there while doctors and salespeople talk business over them and scan over their insides, on display for everyone walking around the exhibit. Thankfully they didn't have a real women modeling the trans-vaginal ultrasound. Although they did have dummy model for sale for teaching hospitals to use with med students and residents.
