I'm Not Ready for This

Today, the guys are working on the house (of course). Beth came over, and we took all of the kids for a walk up to a free carnival at a nearby church. It was great fun--free hot dogs, sno-cones, popcorn, games and activities, lots of prizes...needless to say, the kids loved it.

By the time we returned home, the two youngest--Judah and Elise--were bushed. We put them down for naps, and they drifted off to sleep in seconds. While they slept, Beth and I put together lunch, fed the awake kids, and we all played Grocery Store in the kitchen. Again, still having fun.

But we were sitting outside when I thought I heard Judah waking up. I waited a minute or two before I went in to check. I walked through the kitchen, through the dining room, through the living room, and turned to go up the stairs to retrieve Judah, and then I saw it.

Judah was sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for me.

How did this happen? Charis climbed out of the crib once, fell, and was content thereafter to stay put. Judah hasn't even shown signs of interest in climbing out of his crib--I haven't seen him try once, and whenever he's ready to get up, he tells me so. Loudly. But now, he can apparently do it all by himself. I don't know whether to be proud or horrified. A bit of both, I suspect.

I went outside to tell Abe (He'll be SHOCKED!!!), who in turn informed me that he caught him trying to climb out of the crib this morning when he was getting Judah up. "I just forgot to tell you," says he.

Great.

I have always been a big fan of the crib. What could be better for a mother's peace of mind than knowing her child is safely contained in a soft, comfy place? Knowing that her child could possibly be awake, climbing downstairs and wreaking havoc? Is that better? I think not.

Shoot, now both of the kids can get out of their beds. I am in BIG trouble.

House Project Update

The next step in the construction process was putting up walls for the second floor addition. The walls may look a little short to you; that's mostly because they are. Our house is technically classified as 1.5 stories, meaning there's really not much attic to speak of--the ceilings on the second floor are shorter than on the first floor, and above that is roof. Consequently, both Charis and Judah have walls that slant into ceiling after about 5.5 feet. The ceilings are still plenty tall, but we have decided to vault the ceiling in Judah's bedroom (which will include the new addition) to give the feeling of more space. Poor Charis is going to be so jealous... We've also decided to vault the ceiling because there is a tiny (maybe 6 inch?) step up into the second floor addition, due to the ceiling height of the first floor rooms; if we didn't vault, it would likely feel more like 1.25 stories up there. Not exactly what we're going for.



After the walls came the roof line for the main section of the addition. The back porch that we ripped off had an inferior roof line, meaning that the slope wasn't steep enough, so ice tended to collect where the roofs met. The beauty of this new roof is that it is code-friendly, supporting a pitch that will enable rain, snow, and ice to slide off with ease, thereby eliminating the drippy ceilings we had become accustomed to in the old back porch. You'll notice the wall supports that are flush against the house and seem to be holding up the new roof rafters: this is actually the framing for the vaulted ceiling we've decided to put in the main floor addition. Yes, we're all about the vaulting. Again, this was to lend the illusion of space--even though it (obviously) adds no more square footing, we thought it would make it seem much more open and airy. Another decision we made last-minute was to put a skylight in the bathroom. Apparently, the trend these days is to build baths like these with no windows in them--a crying shame, says I--but I thought it might be nice to have a little daylight in the small room and not have to share our bathroom habits with the neighbors. So, voila, a skylight. I can't wait!



Here, the guys (Abe, brother-in-law Tim, and Shaun the contractor/renter) are "sheeting" the roof. Abe had to make a quick trip to Lowe's for some roof spacers--tiny metal doohickeys that allow the roof to expand and contract. What will they think of next?

And that's where they are for now. On the docket is the roof for the second floor, which will likely be put on this weekend (at least part of it...)

My greatest role in all of this is child care. And catering. Funny, but in my weekly menu planning, I almost never schedule anything for the weekends--yet the weekends are when I do my largest volume of cooking--two weekends ago, I cooked all day Saturday--grilled chicken, pasta salad, biscuits, cookies, banana bread, large amounts of homemade pizza--for the guys working on the house. This past weekend, work didn't commence until after supper, so I was off the hook, but I imagine this weekend will not be so luxurious. I'm thinking some sort of sandwich...maybe sloppy joes?


Even the kids get in on the action. In this picture, Charis is trying to supervise Judah's use of the reciprocal saw. Didn't I tell you he is advanced? (Don't worry--it's not plugged in, and actually, Charis was in the process of making sure Bubs did NOT pick up Daddy's tool. I imagine she wanted to have the pleasure of doing that herself.)





And here's Charis replenishing the fluids she lost while supervising. A forewoman's work is never done!

Judah the Brave

My son. He is but 16 months old. It was only about 5 months ago or so he was taking his first toddling steps. Then his uncertain feet learned to run. Most recently, he learned how to crawl down the stairs and, to my--what is it, horror? delight?--whatever, he learned to climb up AND DOWN a ladder. I ask you, what 16 month-old has that kind of coordination? The other day, he was trying to climb up the ladder on the swing set and was not entirely successful because of the rung spacing. Today, he tried again on a different ladder, and here is the result:

What you don't see are Abe's hands, just outside of the shot. I mean, really, what kind of mother do you think I am?

Yes. He is bald. We shaved his head on a whim, and he actually has a very nice head shape for baldness. Even if one of his friends told him that the shaved head makes him look mean and unapproachable. (I respectfully disagree.)

Oh, Charis...

So Charis just walked behind me wielding a three foot long dowel and shouting, "LET MY PEOPLE GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

And we haven't even seen a locust around here for weeks. (Although the frogs do seem to be getting out of hand...)

How To Mend a Broken Heart

Charis is becoming very self-aware. Today, several times, after suffering some sort of injustice (cousin pushing her over, Brother sitting on her head, falling off the stool), she let me know what would help assuage her pain, only she said it in such a Charis way: "A tomato would feel me better, mama."

And just a few minutes ago, while we were playing on the big bed, Charis said, "I'm going to spank Daddy!" And since we were all playing, I said, "Go for it!" So Charis moved over towards Abe, who was laying on his stomach, belly flopped right onto his behind and exclaimed, "I SPANKED DADDY WITH MY BELLY!!!"

But enough about me

Back to the children, the actual intended topic of this blog. :)

Judah is getting so old. And defiant. Yes, that's right, we've entered the Direct Disobedience Zone. I knew it would happen sometime, and since Judah is just about 16 months old, I guess he figured now is as good a time as any. Here is the major drawback of this particular stage: while he understands (and uses) the word No, he does not yet understand any sort of discipline or punishment. So the best we can do at present is to make it clear that NO, you are not to play with the electrical outlets (or dump your juice on the carpet or play with the satellite box or hit mama with the giant legos), and remove him from the situation and hope to distract him from whatever defiant thing he was doing. We also have to make sure the distraction is not a reward (as in, "No, you may not play in the hazardous chemical cupboard, but here's a cookie!"), just a redirection to more wholesome endeavors. A challenge. I've read that 18 months is about the earliest they start making the connection between disobedience and discipline, so we're in for a couple of interesting months.

Judah has also learned a new trick, one that sets my mind a little more at ease: now, not only can he go up the stairs, he can also climb down. Whew. I thought he'd never figure that one out. I've been working with him on it at every opportunity, and it finally caught on. Speaking of "caught on," Abe's mom watched the kids last night so we could go stuff ourselves with hamburgers and onion rings and frozen cokes and movie popcorn and m&ms and enjoy a cheap movie (more on that later), and when we returned to collect the kiddies, she informed me that she defnitely thought she heard Judah say cat and juice, two words we've been working on at home. Progress!

Three Cute Charis anecdotes:
1) On the way to Yia-Yia's house, Charis says, "Mama! Knock, Knock!"
Now I had no idea she knew how to do knock knock jokes, and I don't know where she could have possibly learned one, but I am so excited to play along, so I reply, "Who's there?"
"Horsey!"
"Horsey who?"
"NO, MAMA! It's me, CHARIS!"
Which was a relief, because I almost never know how to begin a conversation with a horse.

2) Charis always tells me what is "good" to do--usually it's said like this: "Mama, it's good for you to share cookies with Charis." Yesterday, I was folding laundry in our bedroom, and Charis and Judah were playing in the living room. "Mama!" Charis said. I looked out into the living room and saw Judah on all fours, cackling, and Charis sitting on him as if he were a pack mule. "Mama, it's good to have fun!"

3) When we were leaving Abe's parents' house last night, I called out behind me, "Thanks for watching the kiddies!" And Charis called out, "Yeah, thanks for watching the kitties!"

8 Random Facts About Me

Friends, I promise this was not my idea--genreally speaking, I like me, but I'm not narcissistic enough to think that your most burning desire today is to find out all about me. I just want to clear that up right away, before my tendency to ramble incessantly makes you think otherwise! April, a lovely friend of mine from High School, "tagged" me: "I'm tagging you -- you need to post 8 random facts about yourself on your blog. I have a feeling you've done this before?" What's that all about, April? Sort of a bloggy truth or dare?

Well, I've never been tagged before, so I don't know precisely how it works--do I tag April back with a different question? Do I keep the same question and tag another blogger? Or two? If I don't, will something bad happen to me? Can I make up my own question to ask and then tag anyone I want? And do THEY have to respond? This tagging phenomenon could be interesting...

So now for the facts. Which will probably not be interesting to anyone but my mother, and even then...

1) I pretend to be someone who genuinely enjoys food of all types. I would have you believe that I am an adventuresome type of eater, but in fact, I am not. Here are some of the things I have an aversion to, most of which make the "Most Favorite Things Ever" lists of other people:
Coffee
Milk (mostly because it makes me dreadfully ill)
Peanut Butter
The Chocolate/Peanut Butter combo
Chocolate (just kidding about that one)
Anything that used to live in water--lobster, shrimp, fish sticks... (I do enjoy the occasional tuna sandwich, but it has to be made by me)
Sweet potatoes
Pumpkin Pie
...the list goes on. But I promised I'd try to make this at least a little bit interesting, so I'll stop there.

2)My earliest career ambition was to be a fighter pilot in the Air Force. But when I was about 9, someone told me that women couldn't become fighter pilots, so I gave up the dream. Though I suppose the fact that, by age 17, I couldn't read the alarm clock next to me without corrective lenses might have also helped the USAF make their decision on that one.

3)I am really not all that creative. If I had a nickel for every time someone told me I was, I'd almost have enough to buy that pair of flip-flops I've been coveting (because let's be honest, nickels don't go very far). But the truth is, I am a faker through and through. Just ask my kids, who have been known to fall asleep out of sheer boredom whilst playing with me. I like to surround myself with creative and funny people so that when we're in a crowd, I can witness their creativity and wit and pretend they just beat me to the punch.

4)One of my all-time greatest dreams is to be a published author. I suppose that technically, I already am one; a short piece I wrote in the 3rd grade which showed an "advanced use of adverbs" was published in some education publication (though I personally never saw a copy). But being published without your knowledge or consent doesn't really count, I think,and anyway, what I really have in mind is a book. I read a lot of non-fiction, mostly essays and narratives and such, and I think that would be what I'm best at writing. I've tried to write fiction, but see item #3 for my reason why that has never panned out.

Some of my favorite books to read are travel narratives. They're almost always interesting, and through the power of imagination, I can pretend that I am actually there, when, in fact, I am not only not there, I don't even have the brass to buy the book that contains the narrative and have only borrowed it from the library. But for what I pay in my inevitable late fee, I can travel just about anywhere I wish, and that's cool. So, to hone my dream, I wish to be a published author of a travel narrative. Or several. But that requires cash. Which, see above, I don't really have.

5)If I had a million dollars, I'd... oh, this could be hard. Let's face facts: while this age-old question certainly is interesting, a million dollars ain't what it used to be. Sure, when I was 8, it seemed like I could buy the entire world with that kind of cash. But in these days of inflation, it can only go so far. So let's make it five million. With my trifling five million dollars, I'd:
Pay off my mortgage and all debts (Then, with the $12 or so that I've got left over, I'd:)
Buy out my parents' and brother's mortages, pay off all of their debts, and move them so that they'd live near me
Pay for my kids' schooling, as much as they want to pursue
Buy a really nice digital SLR and a Mac
Travel with the family, then write about it on my Mac (and of course, publish the pictures that I took of it with my nice camera)
Hire a maid
...and a landscaper and gardener
Never buy store-brand food again. I'd buy actual Ritz crackers and Chips Ahoy and EVERYTHING.

But I'm getting carried away.

6)I am ever-so-slightly obsessive compulsive. You'd never know it by looking at my house most days, but I am obsessed with things being a certain way. For instance, I will spend whole minutes adjusting my coffee table after I've vacuumed so that it's precisely parallel to the couch. I have a specific system for loading the dishwasher, and I can't even LOOK at it if Abe has loaded it (this does not happen very often). My dining room table must be prefectly centered with the windows it sits by--and I gauge this by the seam in the middle of the table.

I have grown more casual about the whole thing since having kids--I don't have the time to obsess like I used to. But please don't tease me with lines that are not parallel, because I might hurt somebody.

7)As evidenced by item #6, I am having a hard time thinking of interesting things about myself to tell you. (I mean, seriously, OCD is so passe.) What else is random and somewhat interesting? The pointer finger on my right hand is double-jointed? I'm left-handed, but only write and eat with my left hand? I can roll my tongue into a tube? The only person I could beat in a swimming race is a person without use of arms or legs, and even then, it'd be a close one?

Why, oh why, couldn't this have been "TAG! List 5 random facts about yourself"?

7)I am addicted to the VH1 show World Series of Pop Culture. I do pretty well in some categories, particularly ones about sitcoms or the gossip column. I blame Must-See TV and Us weekly for that. But I am HORRIBLE at the music categories, because I just don't listen to the radio very much at all. No, when I am in my car by myself, I chuck on a CD of someone I wish I could sing as well as, and I pretend that I do, at the top of my lungs. I particularly like Allison Krauss, Patty Griffin, that sort of thing. Ladies with a lot of feeling in their voices. So tonight, when one of the categories was about songs referring to the posterior, I was woefully sunk, as Allison Krauss and Patty Griffin do not sing many lyrics about luscious behinds.

And movies...another hit-and-miss category: I generally go for romantic comedies, though I do also like the Christopher Guest mockumentaries, so I suppose if there was a category about Waiting for Guffman, I'd do pretty well. And the topic of Friends. I'd do well at that, since it seems we watch Friends reruns at least once or twice a day.

Because I'm nothing if not sophisticated and well-rounded. :)

8)I am actually pretty introverted, though it probably seems all of this self-talk is to the contrary (but remember, it wasn't my idea). Yes, there are times when things seem safe enough for me to come out of my shell, and most of you would hesitate to call me introverted, because you are my friend, and when I'm with you, I'm anything but. But I really am one of those people who is recharged by alone time. I get very, very grumpy and horrible when I don't get enough time by myself, just to be silent. No music, no TV, no internet, just me in a room or a car, perhaps reading, and hopefully sipping a big vat of icy cherry Coke.

Which is what I'm going to do right now.

Now, who shall I tag next?

Spidergirl

Poor, sweet Charis. On Tuesday morning, I noticed a small spot on her cheek. We had been outside the evening before, playing and picking berries in the backyard, so I figured it was just a mosquito bite. Happens all the time.

But a few hours later, her face seemed to be red around the bite, and ... swelling?

I still thought I must be mistaken, but when Abe got home he was emphatic that it was, in fact, quite swollen. Looking at it more closely, he noticed that the spot bore the telltale two fang marks of a spider bite. I called the pediatric nurse, who sugested we try Benadryl and keep an eye on it for increased swelling. She also told us (not to alarm you) that something called Cellulitis was also possible, so if it got much worse, we should bring her in. Of course, the next day was the 4th, not a prime doctor-visit kind of day, so she encouraged us to come in right away if it seemed to be worsening.

So we purchased and administered the Benadryl (she was by now looking so bad that, at the store, with no dosing tool available, Abe suggested I just "give her a swig" of the Benadryl. I declined.), and she settled down for a late nap.

I woke her (and Abe, who she'd requested take a nap with her) in order to have time to eat dinner before we all headed out for Abe's softball game. But by this time, she looked awful. She looked like a prizefighter who'd gotten the snot beat out of him. Her eye was almost swollen shut, the right side of her face had expanded to ridiculous proportions, and the whole lot was red and splotchy. I called the pediatrician's office, and they told me to come right in.

Of course, it turned out to be nothing the doctor could do much about. Cellulitis was a possibility, but a possibility they couldn't confirm until 48 hours after the bite. She told me to continue with the Benadryl, noting that the bite would probably worsen on Wednesday, but should stop getting worse by Thursday, returning to normal a couple of days after that. (!!!)

But I am happy to report that, while it was indeed worse on Wednesday morning, it has improved ever since, and today, she is almost back to normal! She's always been faster than western medicine. :)

Charis' Birthday

After much ado...Charis had a birthday party! It was attended by Yia-Yia, Papa, Great-Grandma Fritz, Auntie M, Uncle Tim, Aunt Beth, Gideon, and Elise (and of course, Mommy, Daddy, Charis, and Judah). Uncle Jed and Aunt Lindsay had to cancel at the last minute. We sat down to Burgers with all the trimmings, Corn on the Cob (we eat a lot of that at our house in the summer), Grandma Donna's Bronco Beans, and Loaded Roasted Potatoes (because there wasn't enough cheese or bacon in the rest of the meal). We were also celebrating Father's Day, so the meal did double-duty.

Charis of course had little interest in food (an interesting side note: Judah kept pointing to my corn and saying "THAT!" so I handed it to him, certain he'd be frustrated by it and hand it back, and he proceeded to eat it all. There's a first time for everything!), and seemed solely focused on the good part: opening the presents. I didn't write down all that she got, but I can tell you that it included this book she's unwrapping here and a bunch of other books and art supplies (We love Color Wonder stuff, and she got a lot of it!). Auntie Moriah also got her a plastic pizza set.


Another favorite was this dollhouse. Formerly Moriah's, it not only folds up for easy storage, it came with every accessory you can think of: the essentials, like beds, tables, chairs, people; but also things like birdcages and topiaries, which are a must for the modern dollhouse. There is also a stable for the horses, so it's realistic. Here, you can see Moriah helping set it up and Judah, Charis, and Gideon just itching to tear it up. Mostly, Judah and Gideon wanted to be a part of the actual dollhouse, sitting on the second floor or standing on the front porch.

But the piece de resistance, the present we'd been talking about for weeks, was the DORA BICYCLE. We've been telling story after story about bikes--Charis asks for one almost every night at bedtime. So we've told her (as I think I've mentioned in an earlier post) about Mama and Daddy's first bikes, and we've also made up stories about Dora bikes that fly, disappear, and transport the user to the magical ExplorerLand with Dora and Boots and Tiko and the gang (where Swiper will inevitably try to take the bike, but we will stop him with a well-put "Swiper, no swiping!" To which he will reply "OH, MAN!" and skulk off). So when she actually SAW the bike, she was ecstatic. Thankfully, she still thinks it is cool.

Now, along with talking about the bike for months, we've also been talking about her cake--her Dora cake. My mother had purchased a Dora-shaped cake pan for us to use, so I planned
to try my hand at cake decorating for her party. But the day before, Abe and Shaun hacked into my kitchen ceiling, leaving behind them a trail of drywall and dust, rendering the kitchen useless for much of the day. Obviously, the Dora cake was out. But I promised her a Dora cake--what would happen if we didn't have one? I didn't want to find out. So while Abe's mom watched the kids for a while on Saturday morning, I drove around town in search of a substitute Dora cake, finally finding that I could order one (for pickup the next day) at Dairy Queen. Disaster averted. Sigh.

We finished the day (a 90-plus degree day) outside, with the kids splashing in the kiddie pool and many of us running through the benefits of another present, a sprinkler ball from Tim and Beth. And also seeking shade. All in all, it turned out to be a great day, and despite my worries from the day before, mostly dust-free!

Oh, It Has Been Too Long

I've been meaning to post these updates for a while now. I have more pictures I would have liked to show, but even with these five (apparently huge) picture files (which eat up all of my allotted space for this post), I think you can get the picture.

Here's Muirne supervising. We had just had the basement "damp-proofed" (tarred), the last step before backfill.



Here's Abe backfilling. I could tell you that he did it all by hand, but that would be a lie. We had Vic the Septic Man come back with his excavating equipment and, well, un-excavate. We have great mountains of dirt way back in our yard, so no shortage of backfill medium. I was thinking at the time, "This is great! Now I don't have to worry about the kids falling into the dirt hole!" Until I realized that if they did fall, they wouldn't roll down the softly graduated dirt mound, they'd drop a very steep eight feet down into the not-so-soft basement. I was glad the next weekend when the basement was covered.


Here's my kitchen ceiling. On Charis' birthday. The day I was supposed to be cooking and cleaning, decorating a Dora cake, and preparing to host 15 people (thankfull, all family, so very forgiving of messes) for Charis' birthday party sit-down dinner. I didn't get a very accurate shot of my kitchen, but as you can probably imagine, it was less than sterile. Dust covered every surface. Tim stayed a while after the day's work was done (referenced in the next picture) in order to "save our marriage." Suffice it to say I was not pleased that Abe would choose to tear into my kitchen on a day when I needed it to be, oh, crumbling drywall-free. To his credit, he really didn't know that the project they were doing that day would require ripping part of my kitchen ceiling out. But I was in no mood to hear that at the time...






Here's the view from the outside on Charis' birthday. They tore the exterior siding and insulation out in order to install a beam (in the open spot near where my kitchen ceiling was). This particular picture isn't too exciting, but I realized I didn't have another picture of the basement with a ceiling (also called "deck" or, if you're asking me, "first floor" over it), so that's the function this picture is meant to serve. It was a relief to gain that--no only safer for the kids, but it also made entry into the house much easier, removing the need to walk all the way around the front.

The final picture I had room for belies the amount of work it required. It required two very full Saturdays: on one Saturday, the large back wall went up (which I helped lift, thank you very much), and the next Saturday, the two side walls and some interior walls went up. I wish I had room to share the interior pictures in this post, because they merit looking at--the bathroom walls are framed, but not up, awaiting the installation of the tub/shower fixture. Also, the laundry room walls are framed and up. My laundry room will have a huge beautiful window in it, and before the guys framed that back wall, we had a big discussion about the laundry room and its dimensions, which ultimately were altered from the original plan. According to the original plan, it was much smaller, with basically room for the washer and dryer and a little space for hanging things, but after talking through it, we realized there wasn't another suitable place for coats and boots and things to go, so we expanded the laundry room to essentially become a laundry/mud room, with lots of room for outdoor gear, hanging racks, shoe cubbies, etc. It is directly adjacent to the main entry, so hopefully, it will facilitate mess containment efficiently.

My favorite part, also not shown, is the window that is mounted in our basement stairwell which began life as a sliding glass door. It will be a fixed window, not able to be opened in any way, and exists solely to let more light into the space. Our current plan is to leave the stairwell open (as opposed to walling it off) so that light will be able to bleed into the rest of the addition. Code does require that a door figure into the equation somewhere, so our current thinking has the door at the bottom of the stairs instead of the top. Unconventional, I know, but I think we'll ultimately be much happier with it that way. It will seem so much more open and also aid the flow.

But we keep making progress (and I think you probably understand that when I say "we," I do not mean me at all), and this week (or next Tuesday), we're slated to receive the floor beams for the second floor, so those will be installed, then the second floor walls, then the ceiling of the first-floor part, and then the roof of the second-floor part, and so on, and so on into eternity, I think. Because even though we keep making progress, we've got a LOT to do still....

Blog alert

I've decided to create another blog for my food entries. From now on, I will be posting my Menu-Plan Moday lists, favorite recipes, and food photos here.

Enjoy A Pinch of This!

Menu-Plan Monday Redux

Obviously, I didn't get this week's meals planned early enough to actually post them on Monday, having only returned from Ohio on monday afternoon. But this week I'm going to try something new: I'm going to plan for this week AND next week. It's ambitious, I know, but sometimes I get a little bit of a panic attack when it's Sunday or monday morning and I just don't have a fresh dinner idea in me. So here are the tentative menus for this week and next, bearing in mind that things do change and either one of these weeks might not happen as I plan.

This Week:

Monday
Spaghetti

Tuesday
Grilled Chicken Salad
Bread

Wednesday (Happy 4th!)
Brats
Corn on the Cob
Pasta Salad

Thursday
Slow Cooker Ribs
Hashbrown Casserole
Steamed Peas

Friday
Fried Rice

Saturday and Sunday
Leftovers/Whatever I didn't make on the other days

Next Week:

Monday
Crock Pot Meatloaf and Baked Potatoes (which are FANTASTIC from the slow cooker)

Tuesday
Teriyaki Pork Loin
Asian Sesame Salad

Wednesday
Sweet and Sour Chicken (or Pork, if there's a lot leftover)
Rice

Thursday
Tacos/Taco Salad
Mexican Rice a la Nina's Taqueria

Friday
Crock Pot Turkey Breast and gravy over noodles
Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

Saturday and Sunday
Leftovers, etc.

Menu-Plan Monday

It's that time again. This is the week of my birthday, and I REFUSE to cook on my birthday. Yes, I do enjoy cooking, but it's the principle of the thing. My birthday is my time off for good behavior. I am still trying to decide where we should go to celebrate. So there are only three meals listed this week, because of the birthday, of course, and also because Friday evening will be a travel evening, so we won't have dinner at home. We're headed to Ohio for a wedding! Yippee!
So, for what it's worth, here is my plan for the week:

Monday:
Chicken with mixed greens, feta, toasted almonds, and raspberry vinaigrette
Garlic Bread

Tuesday:
Chef Salad
Corn on the Cob

Wednesday:
Chicken Pasta Toss with garlic, olive oil, parmesan, and fresh basil
Garlicky Green Beans
Peaches and cherries over shortcake

Thursday:
Someone else cooks and cleans up for me

Friday:
More than likely, we'll grab something at Chez McDonald...

Saturday:
Free food at wedding reception

Sunday:
Birthday celebration with my family

Last, I wanted to share with you my version of the Not-Zagna that was on the menu last week. I was so pleased with it--it was half the effort of actual lasagna, but with all of the flavor.

Cori's Two-Saucy MockZagna

1 lb ground beef (with additional crumbled Italian sausage, if desired), browned with 1 minced onion and 3 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 lb. short-cut pasta (I used rigatoni, but whatever)
1 c. ricotta
1/3 c. parmesan
1/4 c. shredded mozzarella
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chiffonaded, or 2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

1) Brown beef. When it has lost its pink, add the onion and garlic, and let that work for a minute or two.
2) Prepare pasta according to package directions, reserving 1/3-1/2 c. of the water for the ricotta sauce.
3) To the beef mixture, add the spaghetti sauce and the stewed tomatoes (smush the tomatoes up with your hands before you add them), and let this sit over medium heat until you need it.
4) In the bottom of a large bowl, mix together ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, basil, salt and pepper to taste, and add the pasta water. Stir well.
5) Add the pasta to the ricotta sauce, then add 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce to that; toss to combine.
6) Spoon additional spaghetti sauce over the top and sprinkle with additional mozzarella, if desired.

So easy, and so YUM! If you put a lid on the pasta pot to bring the water to a boil faster, the whole shebang can go from start to finish in 20 minutes or so!

The Charis Post

My little girl. It seems just days ago we brought her home from the hospital, and now, she is a walking, talking, three year-old wonder. We just celebrated her birthday (another one? they just keep coming), and in her honor, I offer this yearly assessment of Things That I Love About Charis Ruth.

1. Her spirit. This was her first year for VBS, and she was just in the preschool program. VBS started on the 18th, and Charis turned 3 on the 16th, so that officially put her in the 3 year-olds class--just barely. As you can imagine, she was the very youngest in her class. Anyway. I was there helping with the 1st graders for the week, and every morning, all of the kids--from age 3 to fifth grade--started the morning in the sanctuary with songs and announcements. On the first day, I pointed her out to the leader of my little group. On every subsequent day, Charis was easily identified--she was always the one dancing in the aisle, trying to walk over to other sections to see friends, crawling on the floor, heading up the stairs to the platform...you get the idea. I suppose I could be embarrassed about it, but she has such life in her, and this was her first time in the sanctuary having to show any measure of decorum, so a little rambunctiousness is to be expected, and to her credit, she did improve over the course of the week. But still, even when she wasn't jumping on her leaders, you can just see that spark of spirit.

2. Her kindness. She has absolutely no qualms about inviting anybody to our house: "Would you like to come in my house?" And of course, that goes double for people she already knows and likes. Today, on the way back to the swing set, she passed her kiddie pool. "Can we play in that?" she asked. "Not tonight," I said. "But this week is supposed to be very hot, so I'm sure we'll get to play in the pool soon." She paused. "Is Gideon coming over to play?" "Well," I said, "not that I know of, but I suppose we could call and see if they want to come over to play." She nodded and did a little jump. "YES!!! Call them! Because I love Gideon! And I love Beth! And I love Tim! And I love Elise. I love ALL of the Elises. And ALL of the Tims. And ALL of the Gideons. And ALL of the Beths." Later, after we had chatted with our neighbors, Charis said, "Our neighbors will come inside with us?" She didn't understand why they would go into their own house, when they could come into the house with her. That is what she's all about. Even during VBS week, on the very first day, she showed this kindness. Her little friend Travis is also 3--3 turning 4, but 3 nonetheless--and was scheduled to be in her group. Well, when Travis arrived, he was in quite a state. Not quite ready to leave his sister and mom. Seeing him upset, Charis (I learned later) went over and grabbed his hand and said, "You can sit with me, Travis!"

3. She's actually a pretty good sharer. (For a 3 year-old.) In her Wednesday night church class, one of the last things they learned this spring was the concept of "Sharing and Caring." It was implied to them that sharing is one way to show people you love them. Well, Charis embraced this concept wholeheartedly. Very often, I will hear her exclaim, "I'm sharing and caring with Bubs!" Indeed, we hear about it every time she shares with Judah. She does occasionally turn it around in her favor, as when she takes some sort of food or toy from Judah's hands and announces that "Bubs shared and cared with me!" or when Abe has something she wants, and she says something like, "Daddy, you need to share and care." But still. She's pretty good.

4. Her helpfulness. Like tonight, when I left the cap on the tub of Balmex loose, and when I wasn't looking, Judah got into it and started to finger paint. She was kind enough to help me wipe things up. Or tonight, when she got a bit of ketchup on the carpet, she told me right away and cleaned it up all by herself. She's also a handy go-fer--particularly if I need her to bring me a toy or a dish or a diaper or anything. She is very accommodating.

5. Her maturity. She is growing so fast. She can now tell me when she's sad, or even explain to me why I made her mad (Usually, because I didn't 'share and care' as she would have liked) She's also developing reasoning skills, which is fun to watch. The other day, we were coming in from outside. There is a hill leading into our "way back" yard, where the swing set is, and it is marked by the two tracks that get driven over when trucks or trailers go in and out of the yard. Charis calls them "paths" and will often stand in front of them and deliberate over which path she should take. On this particular day, Muirne (the dog) was sleeping in the shade on one of the "paths," so when we approached, I asked Charis, "Which path should we take?" Without hesitation, she said, "Well, Muirne (though she says it "Nurna") is on that path, so we should take the other one!" I thought that was pretty good.

6. Her joy. It is infectious. She laughs like little bubbles breaking on the surface of a pond. She smiles rays of light. She dances like music. Her kisses are little butterflies that alight on your nose and brighten your week. Her joy is pure magic. I think she might be a tiny bit fairy.

7. Her independence. She does an amazing job at entertaining herself, whether with a video, books, toys, or art supplies. I really never have to worry about her "getting into" anything or being bored--she's always got something to do. Also, she is usually very bold and comfortable in leaving us, or when we leave her, whether it is with a babysitter or in her Sunday school class. It is nice not to have to worry about that. At one point, they stopped giving us pagers from the nursery because they knew they wouldn't need to page us for anything. She's easy. For her birthday, she was given Auntie Moriah's (whom Charis calls YaYa Grace) dollhouse and accessories, and she can honestly play for minutes on her own. But on the flip side...

8. She loves to play with others. Especially the game she calls "Hello," where she holds one character and you hold the other, and your characters say hello. "Hello! How are you today? Do you want to go to the store with me?" And when Gideon or Katie and Travis come over, it is all she wants to do to interact with them. On the other hand...

9. She loves to cuddle. We went through a phase where she was far too busy to cuddle. But now, very often, if you are sitting still, she will crawl up right beside you, just to be near. And when she goes to bed, she loves to nuzzle next to me, pressing her forehead against mine. "You sleep with me for two minutes?" she'll ask. And I'll try to say no, but it's useless. Because I know she'll look into my eyes, kiss me on the nose, and say, "'Love you, mama. Love you so much."

10. She is my Charis. She is such a gift. Even when she is a handful, even when I would just like her to sleep a little while longer so I can have another minute of peace before the chaos ensues, she is a gift. Even when she tells me I make her mad, she is a gift. Even when she uses her lemonade to "clean" the table and carpet, she is a gift. Even when she needs to be punished for her astonishing deliberate disobedience, she is a gift. Why? See reasons 1-9. Need I say more?

Menu-Plan Tuesday?

Well, I didn't get this all chosen and posted on Monday as I would have liked to. I am way behind on blogging, and this is the only post that seemed doable this week. Upcoming posts will be about Charis and her THIRD BIRTHDAY, and also construction updates. But for now, today, when I am wiped out from a morning full of first graders at VBS, a menu-plan post is about all I can manage. When I emerge from my semi-comatose state, I will have lots to say. Lots.

Monday:
Charis' Birthday party leftovers (so, see, you didn't really miss anything)

Tuesday:
Grilled Pork Steak
Rice Pilaf
Leftover Corn on the Cob

Wednesday:
Dinner at Abe's parents' house (beef BBQ sandwiches, I think)

Thursday:
Rachel Ray's Not-Zagna (because we never had the rigatoni I'd planned for last week)

Friday:
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Rice

Be "Exasperation"

Years ago, on Sesame Street, I think, they showed a sequence where people displayed different emotions, and the off-screen children would announce what faces they were making (HAPPY! SAD! EXCITED!) in order to teach children either a)how to read these expressions on others, or b)how to become a bad actor. Our family took to playing this game in the car, but our version went like this: Stephen (7 years younger than I) would tell mom to "BE" whatever, and she would show that emotion. "BE SLEEPY! BE SURPRISED! BE WORRIED!" Our favorite was "BE . . .COOPERATION!" Anywho, for a while, my brother's version of these emotions was uncannily near in appearance to how my mom displayed them. I always thought that was funny, especially since my mom's version was a bit (as you can imagine if you know her) over-the-top.

Kids. I chuckled. So impressionable.

Fast forward to the present (my brother, now 23, displays emotion very appropriately), and I've got my own little impression-master named Charis. She has always been big into making faces--I blame the large mirror in our living room and the fact that her mother is a bit of a ham--so various expressions of happiness or fatigue or even cooperation are normal around here. But the other day, I was mildly frustrated by something--say, the tightness of the pickle jar lid or the crumby mess that was on the floor where moments earlier there had been animal crackers--and uttered a sound that any one of you would recognize, sort of a throaty "rrnnrnrnrnggggghhhh!" Well, dear, sweet, impressionable Charis happened to be nearby.

So now, whenever Charis wants to convey that she is somewhat less than pleased about something, as today in the car on the way home from Meijer when I wouldn't allow her to have any of the mini-donuts she picked out, she emits that same sort of rrrrrnrnrnggghh! in a distinctly 3-year-old way, and does so repeatedly until you have acknowledged that you understand she is frustrated.

Kids. SOOOOO impressionable.

Retail Therapy

(Is it odd this is my second post that references therapy? I like to think I am as balanced as the next girl, but perhaps this is not the case.)

Let's just first get this out of the way: Ikea is a balm to my soul. And so is chocolate fondue.

Periodically--perhaps every six months or so--I take a road trip with My mother-in-law and my three sisters-in-law. Usually we go to a nearby Amish community and stuff ourselves with pie and stuff our trunk with antiques and cutesy stuff, and usually, we have at least one child with us. THIS particular trip was a departure--oh, boy, was it. We traded Amish country for Greater Detroit, antiques for inexpensive Swedish household goods, pie for chocolate fondue, and we left our children at home. Perhaps we will never go back to the old way. This trip was delicious.

We left at about 2 on Saturday, drove to our hotel (listening to as varied a mix of music as you can imagine) and checked in, then set out to find dinner. What a trial. I will spare you the details, but the short version is that we spent nearly as long as our trip from home driving over the same three streets trying to decide where to eat. We have a couple of selective eaters amongst our ranks, so many restaurants got rejected. We passed a restaurant called Steve and Rocky's about twelve times (Note to Steve and/or Rocky: There's very little indication to outsiders what kind of food you serve and its level of palatability {is that a word?}, so you'd do well to add some sort of description to your sign: perhaps "All-American Cuisine" or "Bistro" or "Wing Emporium" or whatever it is that you serve. We would gladly have frequented your establishment, but alas. We didn't want to take our chances on a Frat-boy name like Rocky and the hash he would sling), and never went in. Eventually, on our third circuit around the mall, we accosted a woman and asked her for a recommendation. She directed us to a restaurant called Diamond Jim Brady's (which, incidentally, we also passed twelve times, owing to its proximity to Steve and Rocky's), where we gorged ourselves on some really really great burgers and turkey clubs. Our sandwiches were the most tame thing on the menu (and also the cheapest), but I think we probably enjoyed them more than we would have anything else at the time. I recommend Diamond Jim's burgers if you ever get the chance to partake!

After dinner, we headed back to the mall where we indulged our Paris Hilton sides and tried on amazingly expensive party dresses at Lord and Taylor. When the store closed, we headed to a fondue restaurant we'd passed earlier called The Melting Pot, where we had the most marvelous time. We ordered plain dark chocolate fondue and a flambeed turtle fondue, which were accompanied by bananas, fresh pineapple, strawberries, pound cake, brownies, oreo- and graham cracker-covered marshmallows and cheesecake. I kid you not--we couldn't have been more pleased. We preferred the dark chocolate fondue (it was so fantastically scrumptious when combined with the cheesecake that all you could do was swoon), but, as you can imagine, ate both with devotion.

It became evident that if we ate anything more, we'd burst.

After paying our bill and taking a "Souvenir Menu," we headed back to the hotel and, more specifically, its hot tub, where we spent a good hour. We then returned to our room and played The Ungame until 2 a.m. It's a good way to get to know your family, I tell you. The men might hate it, but the women will love it.

Our free hotel breakfast in the morning included make-your-own waffles, so we of course fueled up before we hit the reason for our visit: Ikea.

Ikea is 311,000 square feet of retail bliss. There's no way for me to describe to you the hours that were there (though I can tell you we were there from 11-5) other than to say we were the proverbial kids in the candy store. If we had an Ikea that was conveniently located and didn't necessitate a hotel stay we would almost certainly be less enamored of it, but for us it is a treat to be savored, so there was hardly a nook in the store that we did not thoroughly investigate. I left the store much poorer than I arrived, but it was all worth it.

Running late, we opted to eat at the ever-so-fast Fazoli's for dinner, and we opted to eat in so we could have the opportunity to eat their free breadsticks until we were bleeding out our eyes. Which we very nearly did.

And though every moment of the trip was a delicious, relaxing treat, possibly the best part was opening the door to my house and greeting the two sweet-smelling, very excited munchkins I had left the day before and hugging them thoroughly. Being away for a while makes coming home all the sweeter.

(Also, our basement is now covered by the first floor, which was framed on Saturday, but I will save pictures and details for a later post!)

Menu-Plan Mondays

Well, here's another list of what we plan to eat this week! Last week, we ended up switching and things ended up a little differently than I'd planned, so I think we only actually ate two of the meals I'd planned to make. Ah, well. At least there was a plan in place in case I needed it! I have never kept track of the differences between the plan and actual meals consumed, but I'd bet that most weeks end up varying a bit from the original outline. At any rate, here's this week's list.

Monday:
Shredded Beef and Black Bean Burritos (from leftover Italian Beef from Friday)
Salad

Tuesday:
Sloppy Joes
Tangy Broccoli Slaw
Corn on the Cob

Wednesday:
Western-Style Pork Ribs
Baked Mac'n'Cheese
Sugar Snap Peas

Thursday:
Italian Pasta Salad with Chicken, Basil and Spinach

Friday:
Chicken Sausage
Rigatoni

Saturday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
We celebrate Charis' birthday with Abe's family. She's terribly excited to have a party! Her cake will be a Dora cake from the pan my mom purchased for us (I've never done one of these before. We'll just see.). For lunch, we'll have Burgers; Roasted Potatoes, Loaded; Corn on the Cob; and veggies and dip. Dessert will of course be cake and ice cream!

All the Riches

What a beautiful and interesting evening with my daughter.

She didn't eat much at dinner, so, of course, was hungry right at about bedtime. She sat down in front of me moments before bedtime, thoughtfully cradled her chin in her hand and tapped her face with a finger. "Hmmmm. I'm hungry. Hungry, hungry. What should I eat? Think. Think, think, think. What should I eat?

I know!!! Eggs. I should eat eggs, mama!"

Then, when we finally made it up to bed, and I had just tugged her pajamas past her ears, she informed me, "I waked up in the morning!"

"You did!" I replied.

"Yeah! Jesus woked me up!"

"He did? What did He want you to do?"

"Not know! He waked me up! He waked you up, too!"

Snuggling through our bedtime routine, she kept asking for "one more song" (of course). The last couple of nights, she has asked for "EyeEyeOh" (Old MacDonald), so we sang that one, and tonight, for the first time, she requested "ABC." And she knew almost all the letters! She got hung up a little on LMNOP, but really, what kid doesn't?

I kissed her goodnight, and left the room. She started crying, which is not totally out of the ordinary lately--more often than not, it's a sneaky way of persuading you to let her stay up a few minutes longer, or postpone bed by claiming hunger or something--so I let it continue, figuring that she'd get the picture and be asleep in moments, but that was not to be. Tonight, the crying escalated until I heard her slide out of bed. I rushed up the stairs, hoping that I could contain her and her sobs before she woke Judah. Somehow, he slept through her sobbing in the hall before I made it up there.

I snatched her up and sat her on the end of the bed. "What's wrong, Charis?

"I sad."

"Why are you sad?"

"I crying."

"Were you scared? Or hot? Or lonely?"

Her eyes widened. "Scared!"

"Well, we need to pray and ask Jesus to take away the scared, okay?"

We prayed, and I lay next to her while she calmed down. Her eyes fluttered, centimeters away from sleep, and before turning over, she lifted her head off the pillow and kissed me on the nose. When I thought she was asleep, I sat up to leave. She sat up too, kissed me again, and I told her that I loved her so much, but I needed to go downstairs so she could sleep. "We pray first." she said. So we did.

And yes, it is more than an hour and a half past her bedtime, but she's asleep now. And I had to run down and blog all of this before I forgot a single thing. What a treasure.

Menu-Plan Mondays

I stumbled upon a blog called "Organizing Junkie," the author of which hosts something called "Menu-Plan Mondays." In essence, every Monday, people link to a post on their blog with a list of what they're planning to fix for dinner each week.

I've been doing this--planning meals by the week--fairly faithfully for a while now, after growing tired of the daily battle of "What on earth are we going to eat tonight?" I usually just write my plans in my calendar, and then I have a guide to go by. To be truthful, it doesn't always work out that I use every menu idea for that week, owing to abundances of leftovers or changes in plan or changes in cravings or weather, but it's nice to have it in black and white every day. And it's really not that hard to do--for me, what works is an Excel Spreadsheet that I've formatted with categories of food (Beef, Poultry, Pork, Sides, Veggies, etc.), which I use as a master menu from which to pluck meal ideas. It only takes me about 10 minutes a week to plan, which saves me endless hours of staring into the freezer looking for dinner to jump out at me. It also makes grocery shopping far more efficient--I can pare down my list or even tailor my meals to what's on sale that week. So the beauty of it is twofold. At least.

Anyway, I checked some of the plans listed on the blog (orgjunkie.blogspot.com), and felt inspired by ideas from people who are not in a rut--or are clearly not in the same rut I am in--and thought I'd add my two cents' worth. I don't feel compelled to add my name and menu items to the massive list on Orgjunkie's blog, especially since some of my ideas were culled from blog posts alredy there, but I thought I might post them here. If nothing else, it's a gastronomic record for future enlightenment.

Monday:
Spinach and Sausage Ravioli "Lasagna"
Homemade Brothers' Bread

Tuesday:
Ham and Cheese Panini with Cucumber Ranch Cream Cheese
Salad

Wednesday:
Asian Pork Tenderloin
Rice
Steamed Peas or Broccoli

Thursday:
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Pasta Salad with Spinach and Feta

Friday:
Italian Beef
Garlic and Parmesan Potato Wedges
Salad