Christmas Day

I got a Flip Video recorder for Christmas. It is SO cool, and I love it. Here is what Christmas Day looked like for us. Like a postcard.

Am I missing something?

Do you understand this? No, really, click on it.

Did I miss the boat on hot holiday gift items? Did Baby Einstein puppets suddenly become all the rage? Is there a logical reason why a pig puppet would cost $149.95????

I'm making a puppet theatre for Micah for Christmas. He loves Baby Einstein (still!) so I looked online to find puppets. I was shocked! Then I decided to look at the official Disney website, thinking that I wouldn't be able to find them there since they were so high-priced on Amazon. Maybe they were discontinued. No, they are $7.99 on Disneyshopping.com. What's the deal?

Advent Conspiracy

Many thanks to Karen for posting this. I hope you find this as inspiring as I did!

Random Stories

Ethan came down with a double ear infection yesterday. His fever spiked to 104.5! I'm so glad I had called earlier in the day and scheduled an appointment. Our clinic is open on weekends for urgent care. Its really nice that they have that so you can take your child to see a pediatrician and not some random doc. It also turned out our regular doctor was even working! I love our pediatrician. I love her so much its getting to the point where I might not tell you her name if you live locally. =) It's getting harder to get in to see her. When she examined Ethan she said she hoped he had an ear infection with a fever that high. If he didn't she would want to do more tests--she didn't say it but I suspect spinal tap. Whew, I'm so glad it was just the ears. She had me give him a double dose yesterday evening and by this morning his fever was completely gone! Gotta love Omnicef!

The other day Joel climbed into bed with us in the morning. He was holding Aaron's hand and kissing it. He gave Aaron a big smile. Very sweet moment. Then he reared back and hit Aaron on the mouth as hard as he could! So if you ever come over and Joel wants to wrestle, then you know that he really likes you!

We started a sticker chart for Joel. He is still tantruming and we think he's old enough to be tapering off, especially since his verbal skills are so good. If things don't go how he planned or someone messes with the plan he had in his head he will throw a huge fit. We're working on him verbalizing why he is upset instead of screaming/yelling/crying to get his way. So we told him everyday he didn't throw a fit he would earn a sticker. Once he earned 4 stickers we would have movie night. So tonight we're watching Finding Nemo. I'm sure once we're done with tantrums with Joel it will be just in time for Ethan to start up. Joel started at 15 months.

I just finished You'll Never Nanny in this Town Again by Suzanne Hansen. I found it at the library and thought it looked interesting. Its the memoir of a gal who was a nanny in Hollywood in the late 80s. It was an interesting, quick read but not one that I would recommend. Good for an airplane and you need a mindless book.

Election, smelection

There is a small event happening tomorrow. Maybe you've heard? There is an election going on here in our corner of the world. I'll be glad when its over and I stop getting so much junk mail. Really, does anyone read it? I don't even read it because I just assume its incorrect. Its goes straight in recycling. What a waste of money and resources.

Now for the important perks of voting: free cup of coffee at Starbucks (pun intended)!

Agathos

Last Saturday we had an opportunity to go to a dinner hosted by the Agathos Foundation. This foundation was started by a man who lives in the Seattle area, but is a native of South Africa. He was shocked at the crisis facing orphans in Africa because of AIDS so he decided to do something about it. Agathos holds conferences to educate pastors in Africa and teach them what the Bible says about the responsibility to care for orphans. The pastors then pledge to care for the orphans and widows in their village. The church is matched with a first world church that helps the village form an orphanage and help it become self-sufficient.

I was shocked at the conditions in Zimbabwe. Unemployment is at 80%. We get upset here if unemployment is at 6%. 10% of the entire population are orphans under age 18.

Agathos is also doing some exciting new things, including a for-profit venture. One of the problems is that the governments are very corrupt and don't provide basic services like keeping up the infrastructure. This makes commerce and business very hard. So they are starting a ferry service on Lake Victoria to help open avenues for business and trade. It seems so basic that you have to remind yourself this is the 21st century.

If you are looking for some year-end giving, I would urge you to look at this organization.

Tagged!

So I got tagged twice, by Rebecca and Karen, so I guess I'd better do it!

Seven Random Things about me:

1. I don't like to eat eggs plain. I must eat them with things added in like veggies, salsa, bacon, sausage, etc. Anything to take away that straight egg taste. The bacon and sausage don't even have to be cooked into the eggs.

2. If the floors of my house are clean then I feel much much much better. I'm very crabby when there are crumbs and cheerios on the floor (which is much of the time!) The rest of my house can be a wreck, but if my floors are clean, then somehow the rest doesn't bother me too much.

3. I ate a bologna/cheese/mustard sandwich just about every day for lunch from Kindergarten to Senior year. Now you couldn't get me to touch bologna with a 10 foot pole!

4. My Great-Grandfather on my mother's side rode with the Dalton Gang.

5. I've never seen a Rocky or Rambo movie in its entirety.

6. When I was a kid I never wore shoes outside to play. The soles of my feet were so tough I could walk across black asphalt during midday sun in summer without flinching. I totally get the walking on hot coals thing.

7. I've recently got into Thai cooking. Its actually very easy and fast!

I want to tag Jodi and Erin, just because I think they are entertaining to read!

Stressfull Dreams

I had a dream last night that I was voting. And I couldn't get the punch to punch out at the correct spot. And then the CHADs kept sticking. I was very stressed. Then I was thinking why do we still have voting cards with CHADs? Then I remember thinking I should have signed up to vote absentee so I'd have more time to do this. Ugh. I was very stressed. Don't you hate stressful dreams? I haven't even thought about voting, so I don't know why I had that dream, and we have the fill-in-the-bubble type ballots. No CHADs.

Then I dreamt that Aaron bought a foreclosed apartment-home for $1. It had a GORGEOUS view. Awesome view. It was disgusting inside. I was stressed in that dream too b/c of the mess.

Don't you hate it when you wake up stressed and not rested?

First Step!

Ethan took his first step un-assisted today!!! I couldn't get him to repeat his feat, but I did witness that first wobbly step!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

On Sunday we met up with our college friends Jun and Amy with their two daughters at a local farm. Their daughters are Micah and Joel's age, so it is very fun. The oldest, O, is in a Japanese immersion kindergarten, so it was fun to compare notes! =) Micah and O get along famously. We have pictures from when they were 2 years old, holding hands. Unfortunately, when we got to the pumpkin patch we realized there were no batteries in the camera. Jun took lots of photos, so we'll have to wait for those.

We've been to this particular farm for several years now. They have a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, a hay maze upstairs in the barn and a pumpkin trebuchet. What's a trebuchet you might ask? Glad you did. Kind of like a catapult. The farmer loves to give a physics lesson before setting it off. The pumpkin splatters into several pieces then the kids run over to pick up the pieces and feed them to the pigs.

We went to college with Jun and Amy at Biola (which is in LA). Now Aaron and Jun work together. And not just at the same company, because it's huge, but actually work together! Such a small world!

Joel-isms

I thought I would document these cute Joel sayings before they go away.

Why-come? "Mama, why-come we are going to the store?"

Goody "The candy is goody for me," or from Veggie Tales, "Pizza Angel, please come to me, sauce and cheese so goody!"

Chuck E. Jesus

Curried Pumpkin-Apple Soup

I found this recipe in Family Fun magazine. It is very yummy, filling and contains ingredients I normally have on hand. I usually serve it with biscuits. I sub the heavy cream with soy milk and it tastes great. The curry just gives it a great flavor, it isn't spicy. My kids love it! Great Autumn soup.

2 T butter
1 c onion
1 c chopped celery (I sub about 1 t of celery seed)
1/2 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped (i don't peel it--too much work)
2 t mild curry powder
3 c chicken broth
1 can pumpkin
1/4 t salt plus more to taste
1 bay leaf
1/3 c heavy cream
2-3 T honey or maple syrup

sour cream and chives for garnish if desired

Melt butter in a medium size soup pot. Sitr in the onion, celery and apple. Partially cover the pot and saute in the ingredients over medium-high heat until the onion is clear, about 8 minutes. Stir in the curry powder and saute the mixture for another minute. Sitr in 1 cup of chicken broth and cook it for 1 minute more.

Pour the content of the pan into a blender or food processor, add the pumpkin, and puree the soup until it's smooth. [OR use a submersible blender right in the pot--MUCH easier. If you like to make soup, this makes the process sooo sooo sooo much easier and less messy. I highly recommend this kitchen gadget. It also makes great, smooth pudding. ] Pour it all back into the pot, then stir in the remaining chicken broth, salt and bay leaf. Set the soup over medium-high heat and bring it to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

After 5 minutes, stir in the heavy cream (or other milk substitute) and 2 T of honey. Add more salt or honey to taste. Serve with sour cream and chives if desired. Note: Do NOT use soy creamer as a substitute. Soy creamer has extra sugar in it and makes the soup taste funny.

Seattle Marathon, here I come!

So, I did it. I registered for this. Granted, I'm doing the half marathon. AND I'm walking it to boot. But its a start, gosh darn it! I figure if I can walk 60 miles, then I can do a measely 13.1!!

Furniture Moving

Two weekends ago we moved rooms around. The office/guest room is now in the basement and the toy room is now where the office used to be. If you haven't been to our house, we have a room off of the kitchen that we have used as an office because that is what the last owner had it as. We have a small basement that until late was sort of a "catch-all" room, mainly filled with toys. We wanted it to be a rec room, but its not really large enough for that. Aaron also built in some book shelves/cabinets/sewing table when we first moved in, which didn't really go with the whole rec room theme. So we put the desk and day bed down there and brought all the toys upstairs. Wow. I don't know why in the world we didn't think of this sooner! It's quiet down there making it much easier for Aaron to work from home. Now we can sweep the toys into the toy room and shut the door. A remodel that didn't cost a dime.

The OKC Thunder

Am I the only one that when I see this, all I can think of is Chick Hicks? Ka-Chiga Ka-Chiga Ka-Chiga....

***enter deafening silence***

come on you mothers of boys who have the movie memorized like me (cough Jodi cough cough)

Sarah Palin

So I'm not going to talk about politics. More importantly, what is up with the accent? I know several Alaskans and none of them say "you betcha". Is she really from Minnesota?

Cranio-Facial Clinic Visit

We took Ethan to the Cranio-Facial clinic at Children's to see a Cranio-Facial Pediatrician, Dr. H. The doctor spent a lot of time with us, asking about Ethan's health history and examining him. The upshot is that she thinks there is a problem with his palate, but the only reason we would do anything about it is if it causes speech delays. It isn't bothering him enough to gain enough weight, so we wait until 15-18 months when his speech develops. Then we bring him in for a speech sample. We might still do a swallow study to see if there is a problem with swallowing. They inject dye into some liquid and feed it to him. Then they can tell where it goes in his body. Dr. H wanted to talk with his regular pediatrician, Dr. B, before doing any more tests. I like how thoughtful Dr. H was and concerned, but not wanting to rush into anything. I also like that she would talk with Dr. B, since Dr. B knows more about his overall health history.

This just in...

Joel told me that the saltines I just bought taste like pancakes. Hmmmm.... cheap breakfast?

Cooking Class

Last Saturday Micah and I went to a cooking class at PCC. Micah loves to cook but I've been hesitant to put him any cooking classes because of his food allergy. Most kid food is heavy on the cheese. But at PCC they emphasize healthy, organic cooking (PCC is like Whole Foods). So, in the class we made zucchini muffins, vegetable soup and applesauce. The only dairy was milk for the muffins, but that was easily substituted with soy milk.

I've also been hesitant about cooking classes because I feel that I could just do the same thing at home. However, the class gave me a lot of good ideas about getting Micah involved in the process. Also, the teacher is a professional chef who wrote the recipes herself. They were very very yummy and gave me some great ideas too! So it wasn't just "kid" food, but adult food too!

If you live in the area, I would highly recommend their classes.

On the school front, Micah has been doing great, but having some "sitting still" issues that I'm sure many boys have in kindergarten. He is diligent about doing his work but when it comes to sitting on the carpet and listening, well, not so much. He had to "change his light to amarillo" twice last week. This week he kept it verde all week, so we are going to Chuck E. Cheese this weekend as a reward. He also started riding the bus to and from school, which has helped me out immensely! In the afternoon it is only kindergarteners since he is in half-day. He loves it because there is only one half-day class so he knows everyone on the bus. In the morning it is K-5 on the bus. A little scary for him, so he is getting used to it. The kids in Micah's class seem like great kids. All the parents seem like they are really involved. The Mom's are planning our own field trips in the afternoons since they won't be having field trips for half-day. I think its going to be super fun to be able to do that with him this year.

How's your school year going?

More Health Issues!

I am bound and determined to keep up this blog! This is the longest I have journaled at anytime in my life! The problem is that I have a hard time keeping up with downloading pictures. I dont post because I think "that would look good with pictures", but then I don't take the pictures off the camera so I don't blog.

Anyway, I am going forward from here, pictures or not. I will back track to this summer and post photos when I can get around to it.

Today I took Ethan to the allergist. We suspected he was allergic to eggs and the doctor confirmed our suspicions with a skin test. He was also tested for milk and peanuts which came out clear! In fact, we got the green light to try out some yogurt. I'm still leary of putting him on cow's milk when he turns a year. I just don't want to have to think about spillage around the house. I have enough to worry about. He was also skin tested with the flu vaccine because it contains egg in it. He tested clear for that so he was able to get the shot. This now makes 3 people in our house with epi-pens. Micah, me and now Ethan. (Did I mention that I'm now allergic to crab, lobster and shrimp? Its a real bummer because I really like sushi and most of it contains crab.)

Good news is the doctor said to continue feeding Ethan baked goods which contain egg since he has never reacted to that. He just needs to avoid the really "eggy" dishes like soufle, quiche, boiled, eggs, fried eggs, etc. The thing that will get hard is the cross-contamination issue with pans and such. It seems like he is pretty sensitive. The reason our suspicions were aroused is one time, I fixed scrambled eggs with some sausage and vegetables. I purposefully didn't give him any eggs but picked out the veggies and meat to feed him. He immediately broke out in hives around his mouth, presumably from the tiny bits of eggs left on the veggies. I would hate to see his reaction if I fed him a bite of eggs!

Next up tomorrow: a visit to the Cranio-Facial pediatrician at Children's. He's been having milk come out of his nose when he nurses. His regular ped didn't find any cleft palate (or is it palette? Julie?) , but she wants him to get checked out because its so unusual for a baby his age.