Overcome by Nostalgia

And now, friends, you can be too! Join me in a nauseating wallow in sweetsweet memories :)



















































By the way, Sofi is the baby in all those pics.

Just call me Carrie

This snow has gotten me LOW, folks. We've been snowbound for nearly two weeks now. J hasn't had a full day of work since the middle of last week! We've been able to get out for essential groceries, but not much else. Thankfully we haven't lost our electricity, as many have, and the Lord's kept us safe on our few trips Out. But. It's been...ummm...interesting. On Tuesday? I shut myself in the bathroom for a little cry right around dinner time. J very kindly said he'd watch the kids the next day so I could go out and get some perspective the next day. I find perspective in the sale racks in several various outlets stores around town.

So yesterday, Susi and I Went Out. It was FUN. We went shopping and I bought the cutest bag ever (which I will eventually show pictures of, once the snow melts and motivation and energy return) and a pink hat and some cute tops.

Then we went to this place called The Studio, an ultra-posh hair salon and day spa where I got my hair cut and styled. By a she-male. !!!!!! I am officially old now. For two reasons;

1) When s/he walked into the room (looking very slim, trim, blond and female) and announced in il basso that s/he was Eddie and would I please come this way, I frantically swiveled my head around for a moment looking for a body to match the voice, realizing only juuuust too late for polite subterfuge that the deep, masculine voice was coming out of the lipsticked mouth of the slender blond standing right in front of me. !!!

2) Eddie asked me if I attended H-High School and assured me I didn't look a day over twenty and couldn't possibly have two kids at home. *sigh* Next thing you know hairdressers and checkout girls will be politely offering me free coffees on Tuesdays and Thursdays...

Then after that, we went and bought and consumed some outrageously caloric pastries for which I will be doing penance at the gym later today. All in all, an excellent day in the City.

Coveting your prayers

I know I've been severely delinquent on this blog lately. Trust me. I will be back and explain all. It'll just be a while yet. I will probably lose most of my readership, but the Lord is just keeping away for the time being.

I'm writing today to introduce y'all to another blog and ask for your prayers for a dear, dear family. Myers and Laura Carpenter (and Lillian) have been friends of our family for many years. We go to church together, run a business together and our kids practically live with each other. Judah and Lillian have been best of friends since birth.

Laura is expecting in April. In December, she and Myers discovered at a routine ultrasound that their daughter has a severe heart defect. They have named her Gwyneth, placed her in the hands of the Lord and are praying for His healing and protection. You can go to their blog and read more about their journey, updates on Gwyneth and more details of her condition.

Would you go and leave them an encouraging comment? Would you join me in lifting Gwyneth up in prayer?

A particular request... if any of you know the Philadelphia area at all, they'll be moving there soon and I'm sure would love to have some insider info on the city-- particularly ideas for keeping active toddlers entertained!

Borrowing someone else's idea...

Go HERE and read THIS and you'll see one of the reasons why I love THIS WOMAN'S blog.

:)

Judah, in the bathroom...

Click here to join in

kinkled= tinkled= our word for peeing.

*Judah shouts*

Mama! I kinkled!

*mutters*

I kinkled.


Dith mah peenish.


Good job peenish!





check out more toddler funnies at The Monkeys and Me!

Thank you!

Boy, I got so many great ideas from y'all last week when I asked for new recipes! If you haven't taken the time to look through the comments on that post, you totally should! You might get some new ideas yourself :)

In addition several people were kind enough to email me some suggestions and I wanted to post them as well.

Here's a Chicken Curry Recipe from Hosanna:

This is not a real complicated curry, and I used the crock pot to do it. It was pretty tasty; but not as spicy as I like. So I am going to be trying another recipe that is far and away more complicated; with the ginger root and the lemon grass and all. But this is cool for busy weekdays. I halved it for just the 2 of us, though.

1 chicken, cut up; or equal poundage or things, breasts, or leg quarters. ( About 2 -3 lbs)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp. chopped garlic (I get it in a jar. I'm a cheater.)
1 tsp. peprika
3 Tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. sugar
1Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. red pepper

In a skillet, fry onion in a little olive oil until just browned. Keep stirring over med. heat. Add cinnamon and bay leaves. Add all other spices except lemon juice and red pepper. Add tomato paste. Place in crock pot. Add chicken pieces and add just enough water to barely cover the chicken. Cook on High until done. (4-6 hrs.) Before serving, add the lemon juice and red pepper.
Serve over hot brown rice. (Or white. I use brown though)

If you don't want to go the crock pot route, do this in a dutch oven, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is done; an hour or so.

And she sent me an idea for making my own sour cream!

Make sour cream: 1 cup buttermilk, 2 cups heavy cream: mix together, leave sit at room temp. for 12-24 hrs

Here's a fish recipe from Laurie-- a taste combo I can't wait to try, since I'm stuck in a rut of always using citrus when I cook fish...

The recipe is for Broiled Tilapia Parmesan but you could really make it with any kind of mild white fish, like flounder, or something else.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broiled-Tilapia-Parmesan/Detail.aspx

My recommendations: I don't pay any attention to the amount of poundage of fish I am buying, I just buy one large fillet for Matt a smaller one for me and the smallest I can see for Joey. I make the topping exactly as the instructions say for whatever amount of fish I buy and then if I have extra to spread on, it just tastes richer! (If I were going to serve more than about 4 people, I'd probably double the ingredients, but just for us I always make it the same!) Also once you actually have the topping on, they should only broil a few minutes and watch closely! The cheese on top makes it more prone to over-browning/burning.

And a new chicken one that makes my mouth water!

This is super easy too, it is Feta Chicken. mmmmm!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Feta-Chicken/Detail.aspx

My recommendations: I read many of the comments and the best combination seems to be: Use garlic and herb feta instead of tomato basil. Also cut up a small amount of sun-dried tomatoes (in oil, that's usually how they come) and add a few leaves of real basil. This is so easy.....crumble up garlic and herb feta, add a few sliced up sun-dreied tomatoes and a few leaves of fresh basil and then cover in the bread crumbs and bake. Sometimes I drizzle some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes over the finished crumb-coated chicken pieces before they bake, it helps to soften up the bread crumbs. You could also melt some butter and drizzle that on top. It's a very easy recipe but usually needs to cook for longer than recommended. I don't think I've ever been able to cook it in under an hour. If you want to save time, you don't even have to pound out your chicken breasts, sometimes, if I have really thick ones, I just cut them most of the way through and then stuff the inside and close them up with toothpicks. You can stick in as many toothpicks as you need (just remember to pull them out!) the entire time they bake. I can't do it without at least 3 toothpicks per piece of chicken....

Laurie also recommended this Chicken Pastina recipe from the Food Network:

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

And then, all by my lonesome self, I found this jewel!

Penne With Vodka, on Recipezaar

I predict it will be a new family favorite-- even J loved it and had LEFTOVERS-- TWO SERVINGS-- for lunch the next day. Can anybody say "Winner"???

Thank you all so much for sharing! I'll be sure to post once I try each of the suggestions and don't forget to go check out the comments to see all the other good ideas :)

A Cynical Parental Observation

Don't you just love how your children say "But I don't WANT to..." with all the conviction that it actually matters what they want in a given situation???

*sigh*

Request

I desperately need some new recipes. Not the fancy, company-coming-over, hours-in-the-kitchen kind. I need some new basic, dinner time, get-food-on-the-table-asap kind. Like Chili. Or macaroni and cheese. Only not those. And I'm particularly looking for things that are fairly cheap and healthy-- no canned stuff or packets of seasonings and such. Also, veggies are good. Got any ideas? When you're pressed for time and need an idea do you have a favorite website you head to? What's your family's favorite meal?

I've been using www.recipezaar.com for years now, but I'm starting to get bored. Also, they do tend to use a lot of "short-cuts", like canned soup and flavor packets. I recommend it, though. Have any of y'all tried it before?

Would you join me?

I'm sure you've all been hearing the heatbreaking stories coming out of Haiti this week. For our family, the news is a little bit more personal than usual as our Compassion Child lives in Haiti. We haven't had an update on his situation yet, but I'll be trying to see what I can find out in the next day or so. I'll let you know. His name is Dieune and he is in the sixth grade. Would you all think of him in particular as you pray for Haiti?

*twitch* *shudder* *scratch* *blink rapidly*

You all know by now that I have issues with dirt. Specifically grit and dirt on floors. Matter of fact, just saying the word "grit" makes my left eye twitch. I put up with clutter and the general disorder of daily life with children in a small house fairly philosophically. But dirt, grime and grit on my floors, food leavings on the dining room table and dust on the furniture is my kryptonite. I can't stand it. It really makes me crazy. I'm surprised my vacuum cleaner is still working, with all the mileage I've put on it in the last eight years (weddings present). For instance, today I've vacuumed the entire house twice. I also vacuumed it on Sunday afternoon. And Saturday. See? I'm telling you, it's an unhealthy obsession. Part of the family OCD issues making their appearance, I reckon.

Also. My children are not allowed to play in Mommy and Daddy's bedroom. I have been censured for this. I specifically remember one friend (who shall remain nameless and unashamed) who waxed eloquent over her memories of hours spent cuddled in her parent's large bed, reading and playing with dolls and other toys and romping in childish delight. Uh-uh. Nope. Not my bed. This bed (I'm sitting here in bed with my laptop as I write) is for Other Things. I will not go there at this moment, but I'm sure you can just fill in the blank. This room is my sanctuary. I love my children and accept the fact that for the next fifteen or twenty years our house will be filled with all manner of kid paraphanalia on every stackable surface. BUT! Our bedroom is for OUR stuff. No kid things allowed.

Trust me, I am going somewhere with the above two seemingly completely unrelated paragraphs.

This afternoon, while I was teaching, the children took their snack of crackers (*shudder*) and sesame sticks (*twitch*) into MY BED AND ATE IT THERE.

Also on my bed was a load of clean, but not yet folded laundry.

There were crumbs on the floor. All over the floor. There were crumbs all over the duvet. There were crumbs under the duvet on my cozy fluffy blanket. There were crumbs on the bedside table. There were crumbs ON MY PILLOW!! There were crumbs in my shoes sitting beside the bed. There were crumb-y children covered in crumbs ROLLING AROUND IN THE CLEAN LAUNDRY and making tiger and kitty noises at me when I walked in an hour later.

*hysterical laughter and tears*

Tiger and kitty noises!!!

Getting creative in the cold

I recently read a headline on Reddit (if you don't know, you don't want to know-- trust me.) where a man was asking for advice for keeping his two young children entertained during this cold weather when you can't just ship them outside to burn off some steam. Although we are still making sure the kids get plenty of fresh air, I thought I'd also share with you some examples of J's creative ideas for fighting the winter blues :)

Enjoy!

Balloon Volleyball



I really don't know what to call this one:

Stop the presses!!!!!

OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH

I won an honorable mention for Best Title in the Everyman Photo Contest!!!

CHECK IT OUT!!

you have to scroll down a good bit :)

Things you never thought you'd hear yourself say:

You know how you have those moments in life when you hear words coming out of your mouth you never thought you'd ever hear? Particularly in parenting moments, but also other times... Here's a compilation that I hope to add to over the months :) Please add your own in the comments!

"No, Violet, don't lick the floor."

"Judah, you may not put the lawnmower in the pool."

"No, Violet, don't lick the car"

"The hilarious thing about Louis XVI is..."

"Honey, Lanolin is not for your hair."

"Son, you may not use your violin bow for a sword."

"I don't want to hear your opinion. I just want you to give me the right answer."

"No, Violet, don't lick Judah's boots."

"Honey, go put your underwear on and you may not get naked any more."

"No, son, don't lick that coat."

"Judah, no. Take the snake out of your snack."

What we had for dinner

Remember my Facebook status the other day? Well. This is what we had :) Although, to be fair, I'd made it the day before and we were just eating the leftovers...

This is an amazing way to cook venison! My parents have been supplying us with generous amounts of venison this year, so I've been searching out new ways to cook it that can help mute the gamey taste that so many non-eaters-of-venison complain of. This recipe takes the crown, so far.

Here's the recipe with my alterations written in, because I never have everything I need for any recipe I try-- even if I did just go shopping for all the ingredients. Also, I did the metric conversions for you.

Olive oil, for cooking (I used plain cooking oil, but I would normally have olive oil on hand)

150g (I used about six slices) smoked bacon, chopped

1kg (2lbs) boned leg or shoulder of venison, cut into large chunks

3-4 tbsp plain flour, seasoned

250g shallots, peeled and roughly chopped (I used about six green onions)

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed (I totally know how to crush a garlic clove now! I rock!)

2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped

1 medium swede, peeled and roughly chopped (a swede is the English name for a rutabega. ESSENTIAL to this dish. DO NOT substitute. It has a really unique, smoky/earthy flavor that you will definitely miss)

Few thyme sprigs (I used dried sage. Only thing even remotely similar that I had)

2 bay leaves

1 tsp mixed peppercorns, crushed

500ml (2 cups, I used a Cab Sav) red wine

500ml (2 cups, I used chicken bouillon) brown chicken or beef stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1-2 tsp raspberry vinegar, to taste (couldn't find raspberry vinegar in the grocery, so used basalmic-- and about 2 tblsp-- but taste carefully and add slowly!)

20-30g (2 oz) dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), grated, to taste

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 (350 degrees F). Drizzle a little oil into a large ovenproof casserole dish and sauté the bacon for 4-5 minutes over a moderate heat until lightly golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2 Put the chunks of venison in a large bowl or plastic bag with the seasoned flour and toss well to coat. Shake off the excess flour. Add a little more oil to the casserole and fry the venison in batches over a moderate to high heat, until browned on all sides. Remove from the casserole and set aside with the bacon.

3 Add a final drizzle of oil to the casserole dish and tip in the shallots, garlic, carrots, celery and swede. Sauté the vegetables with the herbs and crushed peppercorns for about 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the shallots are soft and golden.

4 Return the bacon and venison to the casserole and pour in the red wine. Give everything a good stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the dish to loosen any sediment. Bring the wine to the boil, then pour in the stock and add some salt and pepper. Return to the boil, then cover with a lid. Transfer to the oven and cook for 1½ hours, or until tender. (I simmered mine on the stovetop, because I had sourdough bread in the oven)

5 Remove the casserole from the oven and strain the meat and vegetables through a large sieve or colander, set over a saucepan to catch the sauce. Discard the bay leaves and thyme. Tip the meat and vegetables back into the dish and cover to keep warm. (I just spooned the veggies and meat out into a bowl and called it a day)

6 Add the raspberry vinegar to the sauce and reheat gently. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the chocolate until it melts and the sauce is smooth. (If it turns grainy, pass it through a fine sieve.) (I just turned the burner low and carefully stirred the chocolate in. It didn't get grainy.)

7 Taste and adjust the seasoning, then pour the sauce over the venison and vegetables and stir well to coat. Serve immediately with creamed cabbage and mashed potato. (We skipped the cream cabbage)

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Some Quick Takes with a little more joy

I am by no means a regular participator in this lovely meme, but I thought it might be a good way to balance out Wednesdays depressing post.

1) Thank you so much to all the lovely people who commented/emailed/called me to cheer me up :) I feel so much better. And also a little guilty for getting so low when I have so many things to be thankful for! Which things I will now discuss.

2) Sofi went for her well-child doctor visit this morning. She was given a clean bill of perfect health. She is in the 92nd percentile for both height and weight with a bmi well within the healthy range. Wonderful news for the part of me that worries about our family medical history (diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, among many other things).

3) Judah has learned to pee standing up! Hooray! You can laugh, but that really had me worried...

4) We've only had to fill our oil tank once this year, despite all the unusually cold weather! Thank the Lord for our wonderful, warm, cozy and efficient wood stove! And free wood! Thanks, J, Dad and Zeke :)

5) I have finally figured out how to shop at Goodwill. I spent $12 on six items for the kids. It's all about scanning the racks super fast and skimming past all the worn items. You gotta just zoom in on the crisp pleats and fresh fabrics and then you can avoid the endless hours of culling through stained, smelly, wrinkled and torn old rags. I snagged some pretty good deals today. Very encouraging, as Sofi is now in junior sizes and Judah is pushing his 3Ts.

6) I got The most awesome Christmas present Ever this year from Dad. Hopefully I will be able to post pics of it fully installed early next week. Live in anticipation till then....

7) I have chocolate :) And this recipe made me laugh!





head to Jen's for more Quick Takes

Back. Sort of. For now.

1) A dear friend found out at her 20-week ultrasound that her unborn daughter has some severe and as yet not completely diagnosed heart malformations. My heart is heavy for her on a daily basis.

2) We are not going to China after all, due to some unforeseen issues with the agency with whom we were applying, that arose right before the holidays.

3) J is sending his CV out to half a dozen other places all around the world. Literally. Needless to say, this puts a bit of a kink in the works of any long-term planning for house/school/jobs/extra-curricular activities/etc.

4) I should have know that a post about all my great friendships would come back to bite me in the butt. The less faithless side of me would say that the Lord is testing me in the area of friendships right now-- and pointing out some inconsistencies in my previous theories regarding my role in said relationships.

5) I have once again over-committed myself beyond all reasonableness and am stressed out to the point where I truly believe an ulcer is the inevitable result of my current emotional state.

6) I've developed a senseless addiction to two mindless computer games and spend my days like an addict going from uppers (my commitments and other stresses) to downers (these mindless games) and back again.


8) J will be working two extra jobs this semester. I will be whining a lot on this blog about how hard he's working and I don't ever get to see him and life is not fair. But you should be used to that by now.

9) The economy sucks. This sucky economy means that people no longer find room in their budgets for music lessons for their darling children. This means my studio tightens it's belt another notch every semester. It's not even really a studio any more-- more like a stdo.

(did you see that? did you see how I did that right there? turning "studio" into "stdo" as though the tightening belt squeezed out the 'u' and the 'i'?? see? I haven't comPLETEly lost my sense of humor. there's hope for me yet!)

10) When I don't blog for a long time, Stuff gets a little backed up. I need this space to let my thoughts flow, my emotions get sorted out and my creativity have an outlet. I have missed you, blog. It's good to be back. I promise not to stay so depressed.

I will be joyful.

Tomorrow.

Judah in the snow

The Big Snow 2009

An excellent woman, who can find?

I was talking to a friend recently about the importance of finding creative ways to help "pad" the family income by working from home. As I've been thinking about it since then, I've come to the conclusion that I believe that women, no matter what the family income situation might be, ought to be involved in some way, no matter how small, in bringing home a little bacon on the side. Now, hear me out. I'm not talking about a big career, or hours spent away from home and children. I'm talking about using your God-given gifts in the context of your home and family to make a little money.

For starters, it's a great way to involve your children in the whole "bring money in, sending it back out" thing. Obviously Dad is the primary provider, but they don't actually get to see that in motion. You know what I mean? Children can learn a lot about the value of money when they actually see what it takes to bring it in and then see how quickly it can be spent. And I think they can participate and be paid appropriately for their participation.

In addition, there's something to be said for a little nest egg in your top drawer. Maybe it's only ten dollars, but I know that when I have ten dollars of babysitting money in my Paypal account, I don't have to feel guilty about taking a little to use for the extras-- a new blouse for the Christmas Party, for example :) It keeps me from feeling sorry for myself when things are a little tight. Or at least, it ought too!

As I was thinking about all this, I decided perhaps I ought to consult the Scriptures before solidifying my opinion, so I did. Voila! Good old Proverbs 31! Read it and tell me what you think of my ideas :)


10 An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.

11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.

12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.

13 She looks for wool and flax
And works with her hands in delight.

14 She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.

15 She rises also while it is still night
And gives food to her household
And portions to her maidens.

16 She considers a field and buys it;
From her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She girds herself with strength
And makes her arms strong.

18 She senses that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out at night.

19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hands grasp the spindle.

20 She extends her hand to the poor,
And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.

25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.

26 She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

27 She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

29 “Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all.”

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

31 Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.


Man! I just love that passage! What more can you say? Isn't that the woman we all want to be? The woman we want our sons to marry? It covers pretty much everything.

Can you hear the screams of outrage from there????

The unbelievable story of a jackass ob/gyn who gave a woman an episiotomy AFTER THE BABY WAS BORN, just because she'd had the audacity not to need one for the actual delivery. I hope that jerk got the pants sued off him/her.

Well, I am still here, in case you were wondering. But I've just been doing other things than blogging. Obviously. I haven't even been READING blogs, which is highly unusual. Most of the time, even when I'm not writing on my own blog, I'm at least reading all of yours. But this time I've completely dropped out of the blogging world. I've no intention of quitting altogether, but people keep having babies and birthdays and then there's this thing called Christmas and I've been sewing and crafting like a mad-woman for the past month now and I still haven't caught up.

I've been wanting to show pictures of what I've been making, but I keep finishing them only just as we're about to run out the door to the birthday party, while shoving the thing (whatever it may be) into the gift bag. Hence, no pictures. I really have been quite productive, though. I promise.

And there's no end in sight, either, since we're having friends from college this week for a Christmas Party/game night and I've got a few house projects to finish up first. We see these people on a fairly regular basis, about every...say... four to six months and I have this compulsion to have a little something more done on the house every time they come lest they think we've given up on the thing. So far I've managed to keep it up for..what? Five year now? Don't know how much longer I can hold out! This time I intend to finish up the last of the trim painting in the dining room and (hopefully. possibly.) paint and replace hardware on the final bank of cabinets in the kitchen. I canNOT believe this is the week Susi decides to conveniently be "out of town". Blah.

Plus, going back for a moment to my excuses for not blogging lately, I've got a lot of serious stuff on my mind right now that I'm not yet at liberty to mention here. The fact that I can't talk about them here yet has the effect of making those topics the only thing I can think of when I sit down to write. On that note, you can be praying for our family. We have some major life decisions to make in the next few months.

Be assured, as soon as I can I will reveal all here on the blog, but in the meantime I may not be as regular with my posting. But please keep checking in on me! You never know when I might post some pics of the cutest kids in the world ;)

My children are OCD

I have spent the last hour trying to get Judah to ignore the fact that his pants are too short and his sweater keeps riding up a little and GO TO SLEEEEEEP already. What am I doing wrong??

It's been a long day. Already. And it's only 2:00.

I Heart Faces: Sweet Dreams

It's been a while since I participated at I Heart Faces. I've been so busy and somewhat unmotivated to take pics for a while. But this week's theme just sucked me in and I couldn't resist sharing one of my favorite pictures of Sofi. It's not the best shot I've ever gotten, but it's precious to me :)

This shot is of her on my sister's wedding day! The festivities of the day had kept this tired little flower girl from her nap, but she curled up on the ring pillow, under a tablecloth to catch some zzzz's right before the big march down the aisle. Look at that golden hair! Remember those days????

Apparently Seven is the new Thirteen

Those of you who know me on Facebook have seen me recently complaining that Sofi has entered the teenage years waaaaaaaaaay ahead of schedule. My sister (who is all Conspiracy Theory these days) says it's from all the Rbst in the milk we drink. I suspect it's just being an only child for so long has accelerated her development. I imagine my mother would call it Karma. Except she might be more tactful about it than that.

All that aside, what I really need to know right now is how the HECK am I going to survive the next eleven years? Or let's be optimistic and assume that I can continue to home school and she graduates at sixteen and we'll say nine years.

Oh Lord have Mercy.

Going back to my mother for a moment... She was really great during the teenage years. I look back now and I honestly don't know how she was able to keep a straight face during most of it. Or a sound mind either, for that matter. I wrote poetry as a teenager, people. And I cried. Every day. For different reasons-- none of them very good, really.

And now I find myself having passed on the Extreme Teen Gene, but without having inherited the Dealing with Teens Gene from my mother and I'm in deep do-do.

Last weekend, in an attempt to build bridges, we went to get a "grow-up haircut". She's getting too "old" for pigtails and braids, so I helped her pick out a nice layer cut, chin length and then we bonded over a soft pretzel. It looked nice, we were happy, the pretzel was tasty.

And now. Now she spends a majority of her free time in front of a mirror brushing it as flat against her head as she can, wetting it down with water and plastering it to her scull because she doesn't like "all the fluffy and the curly-- it needs to be straight and smooth, Mom."

This morning I curled the ends under for her and she wept WEPT afterwards when she saw all that luscious volume-- volume that grown women go to extreme lengths to procure for themselves. And all wasted on a seven-year-old teenager who thinks smooth and straight is It. And then, as she flounced around the bathroom bemoaning her "poofy" hair, she whacked her head into a shelf and BAWLED. Real tears pouring down her face. And I just laughed so hard!

I know. Bad mommy. I tried, really I did!

And now I realize how hard it is going to be to let her grow up into her own person, with her own likes and dislikes and opinions and preferences. Very hard. I want her to be me. Me, but better. Me with all the parts I don't like about myself ironed carefully out and replaced with the parts I like about J. But she isn't me. Not at all. She's Her-- something new and different and beautiful that God has wrought. It's very sweet and very hard to have a daughter.

So, Mom, in case you're reading, I want to apologize for the bright purple pansy pantsuit in ninth grade. I now know how much it must have cost you to let me go out in public wearing that and I appreciate it. And thanks for reading all my poems and not laughing at me. And if you want to do it all again, you can have Sofi for the next nine years....

Friends rock

The Lord has blessed me with an amazing network of friends. I tell you what, sometimes I am just amazed. Tonight, for example, I had a difficult decision to make and an email to write. But between my sister and a friend thousands of miles away, I got the email written and the matter resolved.

I just don't know what I'd do without y'all.

Y'all are like Hur the handholder. Remember that Bible story? As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites prevailed, but when he tired and his hands dropped, the battle went to the enemy. So Aaron and Hur stood on either side and held up Moses' hands and the Israelites won the day.

Not that I'm Moses, or anything. But like Moses, I have a role to play and responsibilities I must fulfill and I have, by God's mercy, a group of women in my life that I know I can call on to uphold my failing hands when times get tough or I need advice or counsel. I can also count on them to hold me accountable in my roles as wife and mother. I even have the confidence to complain to them, knowing that, when appropriate, they'll call me out and set me straight :)

I wish for all of you friends like I have!

Thank you so much, it means the world to me.

I give you....

Cousinball

Candlelight, Scrabble and a lovely glass of the Buble: or "How We Almost Burned Down the House Accompanied by Some Light Jazz"

One of my favorite blogs on my blogroll is Ordinary Days. Sarah is an ex-Marine (I think. Forgive me if I got the wrong branch of the military-- which, I understand, is a cardinal sin) and mom who writes with humor and pep. I kinda borrowed some of her ideas here...

Those of you with kids know that keeping a marriage...interesting, let's say...can be something of a challenge and requires effort, planning and creativity. Am I right? Yes, I am. I like to think that in our marriage we implement all of the above and have maintained just the right mixture of sugar and spice.

A short while ago, in the interest of maintaining said interesting marriage, I put the kids to bed and prepared to greet J (coming home late from teaching the night class) with some candles, wine, a little Michael Buble and the suggestion of a nice, romantic evening of... Scrabble. (go on, check it out, i'll wait. the rest of this won't make any sense unless you go and read. ready now? ok)

It was really nice. I pulled out all the stops. I had candles on the tables, the bookshelves, the floor and a roaring fire in the stove. We had wine and music and appropriate Scrabble-playing attire. Very appropriate. The children were asleep in their beds. J arrived home. The game was on.

I don't think I mentioned that this whole episode occurred during our bout with the flu, did I? Children don't sleep very soundly when they have the flu.

"Mama. Why are there blankets and candles all over the living room?"

"Oh, well. Mama and Daddy are having a little... picnic. Go back to bed."

(thank God for robes)

A little while later, sounds of coughing and choking and lack of breathing swing us into action with the steamy shower treatment for that croupy cough-- you know how it goes.

A little while after that, once the wine and the jazz have RE-worked their magic, just as the Scrabble game is getting veeery interesting... the candlelight is soft, the comforter is cushy, the... whaaa?? What is up with that candle over there on the floor... uh oh. Wow. Hey, it looks like maybe... yep. The floor is on fire. Lookee there.

I really wish I had pictures of that fire. I mean, how often do you get to see pictures of the very beginnings of a house burning down, right? Usually it's all....



But who ever photographs the first few flames, right? But, while I am not above postponing the dousing of a kitchen fire for the purposes of photographing it for the blog, I draw the line at a flaming living room floor. Beside, I tend to try and keep the camera as far away from our games of Scrabble as I can.

We went on to put out the floor fire and Scrabble was resumed. It was a good game and nothing was lost due to the frequent and traumatic interruptions. Like I said, it takes Effort, Planning and Creativity. And also a sense of humor and some perseverance.

From Floor Fire

Well, lookee there...

I have a new article up at Blissfully Domestic! Come over and listen in to a F Family Christmas favorite and tell us all about what you're reading this Holiday season!

In other news, My carpel tunnel is doing a little better, but I'm still restricting my keyboard use. If you're just visiting from BD, hi there! Sorry you're coming by while things are a little bare around here. Things were really cracking a week ago, what with suggestions for raising your children in the Faith and the story of how J and I met. But now with the carpel tunnel thing... well, I'm just taking it easy for now. But hey! Click on the "Follow" button over there and you'll be sure to catch the next wave of Interesting! :)