Life Is an Adventure

Egg Roll

2010-05-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

At book club last night, we had an Asian themed dinner in honor of the book we read- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. The book was fantastic but the people and conversations were even better! I made eggrolls for the meal and they were yummy. Here is the recipe:

Egg Rolls
Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
4 green onions, chopped
1-2 12 ounce bags of shredded cabbage and carrots (cole slaw mix)
20 7 inch egg roll wrappers
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons water
peanut oil for frying

Directions
1. Season pork with spices and cook until no longer pink.
2. Add green onions and cabbage to pork mixture and saute until limp.
3. Let mixture cool.
4. In large skillet heat oil until medium high. In small bowl, mix flour and water to make paste.
5. Lay out one egg roll skin with a corner pointed toward you. Place about 1/4-1/3 of a cup of mixture and fold corner up over the mixture. Fold left and right corners toward the center and continue to roll. Brush a bit of the flour paste on the final corner to help seal egg roll.
6. Place egg rolls in heated oil and fry on both sides until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on paper towels or rack.
7. Enjoy!

Chili Recipe

2010-05-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

I entered a chili cookoff and ended up getting second place. A few people have asked for the recipe, so here it is!

Chili a la Hot!

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons oil
1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1 Red bell pepper
2 lbs hot Italian sausage
2 lbs lean ground beef
3-4 Tablespoons chopped garlic
2 cans pinto beans
2 cans dark red kidney beans
2 cans white beans
4 cans Mexican stewed tomatoes
2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes
1 7 oz can chipotle peppers
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
2 Tablespoons oregano
4 teaspoons basil
2 Tablespoons chili powder

Directions

1. Dice up onion and bell peppers. Saute in skillet with oil, approximately 7 minutes. Remove from skillet for later use.

2. Break sausage into chunks. Remember, we are making chili, not taco meat, we want chunks. Start browning in skillet.

3. Break hamburger into chunks. Add to the sausage. Brown all meat but don’t overcook. Once all meat is cooked, drain grease. Add garlic and sauté another minute.

4. In a large pot, put onions, bell peppers, and meat mixture over medium heat. Cut tomatoes in can with knife to make smaller. Add beans and tomatoes.

5. Chop the chipotle peppers very fine. Add to pot, along with spices.

6. Cook over low heat as long as possible, at least 1 hour.

Easter

2010-04-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

I am just doing a quick post to check out a google feature.... here is a quick picture of Joseph and James....3 months and 23 months. Boy, time sure flies!

Happy Easter!

Maria's Birthday!

2010-01-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

Maria is 15 today.

How in the world did 15 years fly by so quickly? I am so blessed to have a daughter like Maria. She is an awesome big sister to her three brothers. She is out and about with one of her best friends, Sonja, to celebrate her birthday. They are going to the movies, eating at Red Robin, hanging out at the mall, and then coming home for a sleepover....not that there will be a lot of sleeping going on!

Here is a picture of her holding Joseph as a newborn....it is amazing that he already looks different in less than 4 weeks.

Rest is good

2010-01-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

Life continues. It is amazing what rest does to restore oneself. I find if I am able to get a nap in the middle of the day, the nights are much more bearable. Plus, going to bed earlier when Joseph goes to sleep for the first shift is also good. It is hard though....there are other things that I want to do....but I need to remind myself continually that this is such a short season and I just need to enjoy the time with a newborn. So, resting, reading, relaxing, gazing at Joseph, playing with James, and maintaining the basics of the household are what occupy the bulk of my time nowadays. And, I couldn't do it without the amazing help of Maria and William. They are both so incredibly willing to serve and to either hold Joseph or play with James....it is a wonderful thing to watch.

2010-01-12T18:03:00.000-08:00

Today was a harder day....not as much sleep and James was BUSY! I think this is probably more the reality I will be living in coming up as opposed to the easy first two weeks.

Here is a picture of Joseph next to a black and white picture of William when he was a newborn. See any resemblance?

It sure is fun to watch James love on Joseph. My sister Annabelle has summed them up correctly....Godzilla and the Potato!

James definitely loves his baby brother....and even is starting to say his name!

2010-01-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a video taken December 31 of James and Joseph. The video isn't long....but it is obviously done by an amateur!

Christmas in January

2010-01-02T21:55:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated Christmas with my sister Annabelle, her hubby Ethan and their daughter Sarah. It was kinda fun to have Christmas in January....plus it was the first Christmas for Joseph.

Earlier today we went to Joseph's first doctor's appointment, where everything checked out great. That is always reassuring. We then went to Costco to pick up the birth announcements and the timing was impeccable...they had just finished printing by the time we got to the front of the line. We were able to get the pictures into the envelopes and send them out today. Some of you reading this blog may even be getting one in the mail.

Welcome Joseph Balderrama

2010-01-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

Is it already 2010? How did that happen? The only thing I have kept up on in my blog is the list of books I read.....125 for 2009. Some months more, some months less. I really enjoyed being able to see what I had read and review the list at the end of the year. So, I know I will be continuing the book list....and hopefully post more frequently than I did in the past.

But, the big news in our household is Joseph Balderrama joined our family on December 29 at 11:11 pm.

Friends and Family and Food

2009-09-07T21:45:00.001-07:00

What could be better than celebrating a holiday than enjoying a BBQ with friends, family and food? I'm not sure....this was pretty much a highlight for me. I love having people over and it was so nice to be able to entertain three of my oldest (longest) friends and my sister and all their families. Our kids have all grown up together.....some of them met when they were less than 2 years old and others were born after the friendships had begun. I am so blessed to watch these kids continue to get along and grow up together, through all the various stages of life.

Ken gets back on Friday (assuming all his travel connections fall into place) and I am on the same kick I always get on when he travels. I like to try to get the house clean and straightened up and de-cluttered as much as possible. I know he likes to be in a clean, decluttered house and I love to do this for him. I figure it is a way I can support him while he is away. Since he has been gone so long, I have had more of a chance to do this, although I only started last week. I am now in the process of tackling our walk-in closet. Well, it is now a walk-in closet....last week it looked more like a storage shed in the center with clothes that weren't easily accessible around the edges. Now, it is a closet again! But, what to do with all the stuff that was in there that shouldn't have been. I am slowly sorting things out, but I definitely struggle with too much stuff. I keep chipping away though.

How is school going for us? We have started week 7 and it is going good over-all. I have had to tweak some things and one of the things I need to focus on teaching the kids is study skills....how to actually study for a test, not just read the material once. This year things have definitely gotten harder, which is good, but that means more work needs to be put into the subjects. What they used to be able to do and retain the information needs to be modified. But, that is the beauty of what we are doing....being able to adjust and modify and personalize and adapt and learn from our mistakes.

Feel free to stop by if you are ever in the neighborhood....you never know what you might find going on at our house.

Birthdays and Bocce

2009-08-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

I have done a lot since I last posted....including celebrating a birthday! I had a nice, extended birthday celebration, starting on Monday, August 10 with lunch at Vic Stewarts with three of my best friends, on Wednesday, August 12 (my actual birthday) went to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk with a homeschool group I am involved with, on Friday, August 14 went to Mountain View/Palo Alto to with my whole family for lunch to celebrate not just my birthday but my sister Annabelle's, on Monday, August 17 went to lunch with another neat friend at India 4 U, and then to end the birthday celebrations, had a fantastic afternoon and lunch at my in-laws on Tuesday, August 18. I am so blessed to have special people in my life to celebrate with.

Last night I went for the first time to Campo di Bocce of Livermore with three other ladies from the Mothers of Brentwood and played bocce. What a neat place. We had appetizers and desserts and their food was yummy. I have never played bocce before on an actual court and boy was it fun! In fact, I plan on going again soon. If anyone ever wants to set up a Girls Night Out or a Couples Night Out, I am game!

My School Schedule

2009-08-11T20:01:00.001-07:00

I posted this to my homeschool group and one of my blogger friends suggested I post it here....it is long, so be forwarned. Feel free to ask me about any of the curriculum I am using....that is how I learned about what I have used....by asking people and looking things over and trying various things until finding things that worked for us.

I have had a few people ask me about my schedule for this year and I needed to write it up for another reason, so I thought I would post it here. If anyone wants to come over and see what I have done, feel free to ask! Or, if you want me to email a copy of my spreadsheets so you could figure out what I am talking about, let me know. I spent a lot of time over the summer trying out various things to get organized for the upcoming year. I have a ninth grader and a seventh grader, along with a 15 month old and another due in December. With the start of high school and also knowing I would potentially have less time due to the little ones, I wanted a system that worked for everyone that would be easy to implement. We have now used it for two weeks, and I have to say I am very pleased with myself! Sometimes I plan things that look great on paper and just don't pan out in reality. This time my work paid off and we all like how this system works. I realize that what works for my family will not necessarily work for everyone's family, but here it goes. Feel free to use and adapt whatever you can. I know I got a lot of ideas from other people that I have changed and manipulated so that it fit our household. This is by far the most scheduled/organized I have ever been!

I have set up two binders for each of my kids. The first of the binders is a 3” binder and this is for their cumulative work. I am not expecting the whole year to fit in here, but perhaps half a year. I will just have to see how crowded it gets before I begin another large binder. The second binder is for their weekly work. They each have 8 tabs, which are identical. Here are the labels for the tabs: Weekly Schedule, Sonlight 100 Schedule, History, Literature, Spelling, IEW, Science, and French, which I will detail in the following paragraphs.

Weekly Schedule: I have created an Excel Worksheet that has four workbooks (or whatever they are called), two for each child. The first workbook is the yearly schedule. The columns I have are Date, Sonlight, Apologia, CBS, Piano, Rosetta, Math, Starting Points, IEW, To Go/Other. I have then filled in the dates for Monday-Friday from when I started school until end of June 2010. Then, under Sonlight and Apologia, I listed the numbers 1-180, which corresponds with the Sonlight schedule number at the top of each day (the small number). We are fairly flexible homeschoolers that enjoy taking field trips and vacations and what not, and I am just not that concerned about when exactly our school breaks are, so I just have it going all the way through, which means we currently end our Core 100 and Apologia April 2. Well, that is assuming we would work straight through with absolutely no breaks, which I can tell you is unrealistic at best! But what I plan to do is when we take a day off, or weeks off like at Christmas/New Years, at that point I will just cut and paste the remaining days downward. For CBS (Community Bible Study), I have the day and the week of the work they are supposed to do that day. For Piano I either have the minutes they are supposed to practice or if it is a lesson day. For math we do ALEKS on the computer, and they are supposed to complete three sections and work a minimum of 20 minutes....this might be modified as the year goes by. For Starting Points I put the pages I want them to complete on specific days, along with listing the dates we meet for discussion. For IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) I will list what I expect them to have done that day or done by a certain day, along with marking the days we meet as a class. In the To Go/Other column this is where I put their outside activities, such as PE, going to a friend's house, etc. The second workbook is the weekly schedule. I have this formatted so that I can copy and paste the information from the yearly schedule into the weekly schedule, along with other items such as chores, more detailed To Go list, Special Instructions, etc.

Sonlight 100: I copied the IG and place that week's schedule behind this tab, so they can easily see what they are supposed to be doing.

History: I have copied the questions for the various history books they are reading that week and have starred certain questions to answer in written format. They know they are supposed to read the notes also. For the mapwork what I did was include the “answer key” maps and I also put the number that corresponded to the correct answer above the name of the place. So, instead of them having to try to figure out where a certain place was on a map, what they need to do is go to the particular map, knowing that a certain place was #3, and then they were to label it. I have always had good intentions about doing mapwork with the kids and ended up never doing it, so this was a great compromise for our family and it looks like it will actually get done!

Literature: I have copied the questions for the literature book(s) that they are reading for the week. They are to pick two questions for each day to answer, and I don't care which two questions they pick.

Spelling: We are doing the Alternate Spelling. On Monday we do the pre-test, on Tuesday and Wednesday they write their misspelled words 5 times, on Thursday use misspelled words in sentences, and on Friday they have a post test. Any words they get wrong on the post test are added to the words for the next week.

IEW: This is where they keep their writing that they are working on.

Science: We are doing Apologia Biology this year and while this is our third year of doing Apologia, this is our first year that we purchased the lapbook/notebook from Knowledge Box Press....and I have to say I am thrilled with it so far. We follow the Sonlight schedule, so I have that behind the science tab along with any of the pages from the KB Press file, such as On Your Own questions, experiments, etc. I have also typed out the vocabulary words with blank lines next to them that the kids can choose to fill in or not. Last year they had to do the vocabulary, but this year I am making it optional unless their test scores start to be affected.

French: We are doing Rosetta Stone French, version 3. We have used Rosetta Stone German version 2 before and I have to say version 3 is far superior. I printed out their schedule that the suggest along with the worksheets that they are to do for that week.

My kids are liking having everything in one binder and what we do is sometime on the weekend we go through the various answers. An added benefit of having them pick their own questions in literature is that they typically don't choose the same questions, so they actually are exposed to four questions for each day's reading. Once we are finished going through their work, I then transfer the old work and schedules to their large binder and put the new information in. This allows me to actually look over what they have done and I am able to double check for completeness. This does not take very long at all and it keeps the kids and myself accountable.

If you made it all the way to the end of this long description, congratulations! If you have any questions, please ask. It is hard to describe some of the components, and I am sure that I have left some vital things out.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth....

2009-07-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

But I have fallen off the face of regular blogging. But, I (think) I am back and want to start up again. It is always hard to restart something....the guilty feeling, the sense of failure, the dread of starting and not following through, all of these things go through my mind. Plus, where to start? I certainly can't recount all that we have done for the last two and a half months.

What did we do today? We started school! Maria is a 9th grader and William is a 7th grader and James is a 14 monther that gets into everything. For those of you familiar with homeschooling curriculum, we are doing Sonlight Core 100, Apologia Biology, Rosetta Stone French, ALEKS Geometry, the second half of Starting Points, the second part of IEW SWICC-B or C (depending on which kid), piano, Community Bible Study-Acts, PE with Dr. Gibbs and we are trying out All Out Sports League too. I am sure there are other things, but this keeps the kids busy!

Ken leaves for Abeche, Chad on Saturday, August 1, which happens to be William's 12th birthday and Switzerland will be celebrating 718 years of independence. He will be returning on September 11.....and boy will we be glad to see him at that point.

I am now 1 day away from being 20 weeks pregnant and things are still going great with the pregancy. We are choosing not to find out the gender before the baby is born- we like the surprise.

How was our summer? GREAT! BUSY! FUN! Filled with people, activities, travels, adventures, and all kinds of other things.

Well, time to sign off....hope to post sooner the next time.

Birthdays and Mothers Day

2009-05-10T07:29:00.001-07:00

James turned one on Friday. I am not sure where that year went. What a joy he has been in our life. The best gift he got was a t-shirt that said "Big Brother" on it.

Yep- James gets to be a big brother starting sometime in December!

Hmmm....no wonder I have been tired and unfocused for the last month or so.....maybe postings will pick up in a bit when my energy comes back.

Diverse Ages

2009-05-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

A little glimpse into the range of ages in our kids.....here is where the kids were this afternoon/early evening. James was in his high chair eating dinner, William was at the movies with a friend, and Maria was at The Silver Ring Thing, which is an abstinence before marriage conference. Earlier in the day Ken and I checked out Scoops! Play n Cafe to see if this would be a good place for James' first birthday. Nothing like waiting till the last minute, but it turned out to be an ideal location. So we are looking forward to celebrating James' first birthday on Thursday, even though he actually turns one on Friday.

Back in the Swing of Things

2009-04-22T19:15:00.001-07:00

I arrived home on Sunday. James and I traveled 2,338.5 miles in 11 days and boy, was it fun! There is too much to capture and instead of worrying about it, I am just going to put some notes down and move on. Otherwise I will never get back to blogging on a regular basis if I keep trying to catch up.

We stayed one night in Forks, which is where the book Twilight is set. We did a few wonderful hikes in Olympic National Park and I could have stayed there for much longer. James rode on my back in the Ergo, which I could not have done without on the trip. On all of the hikes, he pretty much either watched what was going on, leaning backwards to look at the trees, or he would fall asleep on my back. There were a few times he fussed, but not so much that a little bouncing didn't put him into a better mood.

We also went to the ocean and had a nice time feeding the seagulls...of which James was not too thrilled with when they came close. So we mostly watched from a distance.

Another highlight was being able to visit our friends Will and Linda Royston in Eugene, Oregon. We shared a few meals together and it was so nice to see them.

Our last day we spent at Redwoods National Park and then driving through the Avenue of the Giants. What a great way to end the trip.

Now I am home and we are definitely in the swing of things. Kids are doing school, I have already gone to a bookclub, I will be hosting Bunco tomorrow night, then on Friday go to my in-laws for pizza after the kids are done with a homeschool event. And life goes on.

This afternoon after lunch, as we were all just sitting around doing various things, my house felt so peaceful. I am very blessed to have this house and the life I lead.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

This is our last night in Seattle and boy has it been fun so far! James and I stayed in Medford, OR on Thursday night and arrived in Seattle Friday evening. When I checked into our hotel, I asked for a connecting room with my sister, who was arriving later that evening. They upgraded me to a corner suite and it is fantastic. We have been fairly low-key in terms of activity level, but that is just right. We have gone to Pike's Peak Market twice, Gum Alley twice, walked around the Anime convention a number of times, walked along the waterfront, went to a sculpture garden, walked over to the Space Needle, visited a glass blowing shop, eaten a lot of yummy food, picked up Daniela from the airport, and connected Sarah with her orchestra group from her high school.

I hope to put some photos up later, but right now am using Ethan's computer....so no photos yet!

Stay tuned to hear about where we go next!

Packing for Road Trip (and some pictures)

2009-04-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

I leave tomorrow for a road trip with James. We are driving to Seattle, where we will be meeting my sister Annabelle, my brother-in-law Ethan, and my niece Sarah, who will be arriving Friday night. On Sunday, my cousin Daniela will be flying in from Switzerland, and Sarah will be leaving with to tour with her school orchestra. Then, Annabelle, Ethan, Daniela, James and myself will drive back to California, stopping at various places in the Pacific Northwest such as Olympic National Park. We will also be visiting our good friend Will Royston and his wonderful wife Linda. We should be back by Sunday, April 19. I am looking forward to this, but with a bit of trepidation because I have no idea how James will do on a road trip like this. But, I guess the best way to find out is to do it.

Here are some pictures-
Annabelle with James

We hung a swing in our backyard that James loves.

Here is William!

James went with a bunch of other little ones to Habitot....he is there in the middle sitting on Emma's lap.

What happened to posting regularly?

2009-04-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

Not sure what happened to my regular postings....oh well. This last week my dad had some disorientation that was unusual for him so he needed to get some tests done at the hospital. That was a weird experience. So now we await more tests, but he seems to be back on track.

Other than that, a fairly uneventful last week or two. Maria came home from San Francisco, Ken came home from Philadelphia, so everyone is currently home. James and I are now next on the list for departures. I plan on driving up to Seattle with James next Thursday to meet my sister Annabelle and brother-in-law Ethan, along with my cousin Daniela from Switzerland. We plan on meandering back to California stopping at various places along the way. It will be interesting traveling with James....he hasn't gone on a long road trip like this before.

We had the Petras family over for dinner last night which was great. I know Amy from Community Bible Study and it was neat meeting her husband for the first time and spending time together. I so enjoy having people over for meals and hanging out time.

San Francisco

2009-03-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

Maria went to spend a week in San Francisco with ReImagine with 11 other students and 4 adults. "ReIMAGINE is a Bay Area Center for Life Integration based in San Francisco. We fuel initiatives integrating spiritual formation, community building, the arts and social action. As a collective of artists, activists, educators, tech professionals and social entrepreneurs we invite people into conversations, projects and community experiences that explore the question: 'How can we cultivate a way of life together that leads to greater wholeness for ourselves and our world?'" If you want to read more about what Maria will be doing, click here.

James and I drove to the Mission District with all the luggage and sleeping bags. My sister Annabelle met me there and we walked around, somewhere between 3-4 miles. We went to lunch (yummy Machaca), Mission Dolores, garage sales, and a park. It was a fantastic day.

Here is Annabelle (or should I say Auntabelle) and James at Mission Dolores.

Here I am with James at Mission Dolores Park, where there were so many things going on. James hung out in the swing for more than 30 minutes and then got to ride his newly aquired ride-on toy that I bought at a garage sale. Annabelle commented that it was like being in a picture book of a perfect day at the park. There was jump roping, slack line walking, dogs chasing balls, kids playing, kites flying, music playing, people relaxing, families throwing balls around and more going on. I love being immersed in an atmosphere like this.

Impulse Hospitality

2009-03-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how to even highlight all the things I get to do each day. One of the main things that happened today was after CBS I invited some people from the nursing mom's group (pretty much whomever I saw at the end) to come over to my house for lunch...I had leftover lasagna, sandwiches, and I made a quick box of macaroni and cheese. It was so much fun hanging out in the backyard, watching the various kids run and play and swing. There ended up being 5 other ladies, with a total of 15 kids running around. I am so blessed to have a house that I can open up to other people impulsively.

Fun-Filled Day

2009-03-16T23:58:00.000-07:00

What a great day. James and I went to a Music Together preview class, of which Maritez and Heather attended, along with a lady I didn't know but would be at my house later in the day. After the class we went to playgroup, which is always fun. We then popped over to a park to meet up with Heather, Maritez and Amy....James at that point was tired, so he just slept in my arms. After we went home, I cleaned up the house and set the table for bookclub, which was at my house this evening. Then we all went to church where Maria and William and I went to a presentation about medical reasons for sexual purity. It was a very well-done presentation with a lot of factual information and not a whole lot of scare tactics. Then, Ken left to speak at the Community Outreach Center and headed off to airport to fly to Florida. The kids and I came home where I finished getting the house ready for bookclub. Bookclub was great- there were seven of us sitting around the table and talking and laughing and eating till all hours of the night....and we even discussed the book a bit. I highly recommend the book, Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It sure made me think and consider and ponder various things and has stayed with me.

Daily Life

2009-03-11T19:54:00.001-07:00

I have been doing some gardening....weeding and planting and pruning and all that good stuff. It certainly is starting to feel like spring, even though that isn't for a little bit. But, as nice as the weather has been, I would still like some more rain. Good for the gardens, good for the reservoirs, good all around.

Tonight I grilled asparagus for the first time on the bbq and boy were they yummy. I think I will be doing that more often! It is fun trying new things out on the grill. I have made Naan bread on the grill before...which reminds me I should do that again soon. My mouth watered when I typed it.

We are currently hosting someone from back East for a few nights named David. He is currently working on translating the Bible into one of the Chadian languages. He had stayed with us a number of years back so it is great to have him here again. Tomorrow we are hosting another couple who will be doing work overseas....if anyone wants to come over, have some soup, cornbread and dessert, let me know. Everyone welcome.

James is now 10 months old. On one hand it is astonishing to me that he has already been in our lives for that long and on the other hand I can not imagine what my life would have been without him. I am so enjoying my time with him and just doing more at home in general. Funny how life's twists and turns brings you to various places. I am very grateful and content where I am at right now, but don't want to grow complacent either.

So, since it has been more than a week since my last posting, let me re-cap what we have been doing. CBS, had Amy over for impromptu lunch of lasagna leftovers (like the alliteration?), playgroup (2x), James' first Babysigns class, kids portraits taken, shuttling Maria and William back and forth to and from church for various different events, small group (a whopping 15 people showed), Kindermusik Storytime, walk with Holly, date with Ken (make that 2 dates with Ken), Babysign Storytime, and I am sure there were other things too. But, in this there was a lot of nice downtime where I was able to get caught up on laundry, make some nice meals, go grocery shopping, garden, buy birthday gifts, purchase and plan swing for outside, read books, watch some videos, and play on the floor with James. Nice when life is pretty even-keeled. No sickies in our house, no crises, no emotional swings high or low. Gotta love it and embrace it while it is here. Who knows what tomorrow holds!

Lasagna, Apple Crisp, and Boundaries

2009-03-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

Well, no one was able to take me up on my last minute offer of lasagna, so I know what we get to have tomorrow for leftovers! Look at how much is still left.

If anyone wants to pop by tomorrow, I know what we will be having for lunch and dinner! Then, to finish off the meal, we had apple crisp, of which there are also leftovers.

Talk about comfort food. Both of these dishes are from my childhood memories.

And, since I haven't posted any pictures of James for a bit...here are two from dinner.

And, on a totally different note, I just finished reading the book "Boundaries: When to Say Yes, When to Say No To Take Control of Your Life" by Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend. What a convicting book. This is the first time I have read it and I really just went through and read it. I would like to go through this book again more methodically and perhaps even do the study guide with someone or a group. This book showed me a lot of areas that I still need to work on...growing sure is painful sometimes. But, it is good to grow, even though it can be hard work. I also put Boundaries with Kids on hold at the library...always wanting to learn ways I can be a better mom.

Lasagna Dinner

2009-03-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

Anyone looking for dinner tonight? I am making a nice, large, homemade lasagna right now that I will be serving my family....and there is more than enough to share! So, if you want to be impulsive and come on over for dinner tonight, let me know. Ken and the older kids are off to Perspectives at 6:30, so we will be eating 5ish/5:30ish.

Homeschooling

2009-02-28T10:23:00.001-08:00

"Homeschooling is the Silicon Valley of American Education. It's all about freedom, innovation, autonomy, self-organization, and creative collaboration." A really liked this opening to the book "Homeschooling: A Family's Journey." I realize that homeschooling may not be the choice for every family, but it is such a good fit for our family, I am thrilled that we are able to homeschool freely in California.

So, what has been going on in our lives the last week? Nothing spectacular....school, Community Bible Study, piano lessons, kids activities, doctor's appointments, reading books, cleaning house, feeding and changing James (funny how those go together), meeting with people, and on and on. A very nice, relaxing week, leading to a fairly low-key weekend.

Ken Home!

2009-02-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

Ken got home safe and sound on Sunday night. How nice it is to have him back again. With him being gone about 11 days, it gives me a tiny bit of empathy for single parents. That didn't come out right....it gives me a tiny peek into how hard it must be for a single parent, and increased my empathy for them. So while he is back for now, he has a few more trips planned. In about three weeks he goes to Florida for a meeting with his organization, in four weeks he goes to Philadelphia to work a conference, in 8 weeks he has a conference to work in Fresno, and then nothing (at least that I know) until August, where he may be going overseas for about 6 weeks...but that is still in the planning stages. He mentioned to me this morning that I should plan a trip while he is gone....so my brain started ticking and we went to get a map of the USA. Maybe another cross-country road trip will be in the cards.

I just finished reading "Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love" by Myron Uhlberg. WOW. This book made me jealous that I wasn't brought up with American Sign Language (ASL) as my first language. The way Myron describe how his father signed and showed the words as three dimensional thoughts instead of flat and two dimensional was really remarkable. He also showed how hard it was to be a child with the responsibility of being a link for his parents to the outside world. I plan on sending this book off to my friends Shawn and Dee Collins who are currently working with WordSign (http://www.wordsign.org/) which is a Sign Language Animation Tools Project.

Ups and Downs

2009-02-19T20:14:00.000-08:00

James has been teething. Poor guy. He is happy and then in pain and then back to being happy again. But, this too shall pass. I can now see and feel the tips of the two top teeth. I am hoping that once they erupt the intense pain will go away. At least until the next teeth decide to push their way out.

Maria got a new haircut on Tuesday and it looks great. I need to take a picture to show everyone. The highlights for Wednesday were Tim Miller being interviewed by the boys in writing class (need a snake taken care of...Tim's your man!) and having a wonderful meal delivered of Lumpia and Rice and Brownies by Tonya. Thanks...we all enjoyed it and had a few leftovers today. Today I went to lunch with Cindi at Sticky Chicken. I am so thankful for friendships that have withstood the test of time and circumstances and changes in seasons. Cindi is a real blessing in my life.

I finished a few books recently- The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan are ones I would recommend. March wasn't my favorite....it seemed to drag a bit in my opinion. I am glad that I am keeping track of the books I have read- it is neat to be able to look back at them.

Kids back from camp!

2009-02-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

Maria and William are back safe and sound from camp. It sounds like they had a great time. I am so thankful that they have opportunities like this to learn and grow and to have fun too.

James has been out of it the last couple of days. I think it is due to his top two front teeth coming in. It sure makes me sad to hear him whimper and cry, even in his sleep. We have been doing a lot of cuddling and nursing and I have been giving him some ibuprofren for the pain. I have had teething tablets recommended to me, along with the stuff you rub onto the gums to numb them. I think I may be going shopping tomorrow to try to find these things. He slept horrible last night and tonight doesn't look to be much better.

I have been spending a lot of time at Panera Bread. Yesterday after church I went to a bookgroup meeting there in the morning and then this evening went to a Secret Pal revealing there. I had NO IDEA who my awesome secret pal was, so it sure was fun to find out who she was. One of the things she gave me this evening was a book called Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg. It looks so interesting....I can't wait to dig in! But, first I need to read some library books that are due soon!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T20:16:00.000-08:00

Ken called me from London to wish me a Happy Valentine's Day. This was totally unexpected and very welcomed....hearing his voice was the best gift of all!

The other day our family went to Shepherd's Kitchen, the wonderful new Meditteranian restaurant in Brentwood and James tried Hummus and Falafel for the first time. He LOVED both of them. I went to visit my sister Annabelle in Mountain View today and her husband Ethan is a great cook. James ate some of the hummus that Ethan made and loved it too. It is fun experimenting with the various foods for James. We are quickly moving away from jarred baby food...we make our own and he is starting to eat food that the rest of us are eating. How quickly time flies.

Funny video

2009-02-13T20:41:00.000-08:00

I got this off of another blog I follow and I couldn't stop giggling, so thought I would share. Plus, I figured out how to add a video from Youtube....another blogging milestone for me.

Saying goodbye to (most) of my family

2009-02-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

Today Ken left for London for 10 days. Maria and William left for Winter Camp for 4 days. And James is in bed. It is quiet here. I don't mind being alone- there is always something to do. Like read a book. Eat dinner. Put away toys and laundry. Blog. What are my plans for the rest of the weekend while everyone is gone? Maybe visit my sister Annabelle. Go to church. Go to one of my bookclubs. Playgroup. So, while not as many people doing as many things, I still have a few things on my calendar. And, even though three people are gone from the house, there are still three people here- my dad, James, and myself.

I just finished reading My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith by Benyamin Cohen. This book was very well-written, humorous, and thought provoking. I would definitely recommend it. I find I really enjoy books written by a person who sets out for a year (or any other time period) to accomplish a certain goal. Such as reading the Encyclopedia Britannica. Or competing in professional scrabble tournaments. Or living Biblically for a year. And so on. I guess I like to live vicariously!

I just the link to be able to view the photos from Monday's session at JC Penney. If you would like to see more, let me know and I will send you the link. But, for those of you that don't need to see all 21, here are a few of the highlights. I love these pictures! The first one is my dad and all my kids- James is 9 months, Maria is 14 years old and William is 11 years old. The second one captures my dad and James!

Today is Tuesday?

2009-02-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was jam-packed full of great things. First I went to the Delta First Five Center to sign up for free Baby Sign Language classes. I had never been there before and I was so incredibly impressed. Along with all the great free classes they provide, there is also a play area that the kids can be in every day from 9am-1pm. I felt like I discovered a hidden gem! James and I then went to Musical Storytime with Miss Jane at Barnes and Noble, something I remember doing with Maria and William when they were wee little ones. I then went to playgroup which is always great to catch up with the moms present. We then went to get photos taken with my dad and my kids at JC Penney's and we were sooo impressed with them. Plus, can't beat the price! James had his 9 month doctor's appointment, where he remained solidly in the 90-95% range for length and weighs a whopping 20 lbs 5 oz. For dinner, my dad took us to Texas Roadhouse in Tracy where we gorged ourselves on steak, ribs, loaded sweet potatoes, and rolls.

So, with yesterday being full of so many things, it didn't really feel like a Monday for some reason, so now my week is off a bit. I keep needing to remind myself that today is Tuesday, not Monday. There are also a lot of little things this week that need to be taken care of so I really need to be conscious of the time. Ken leaves for London on Friday and Maria and William leave for Winter Camp that same day. A lot of little loose ends to try to wrap up before everyone leaves....

What would you choose?

2009-02-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

I just finished the book Still Alice by Lisa Genova. What a moving novel about a lady who discovers she has early-onset Alzheimer's disease and the journey this takes her on. It sure made me think about how easy it is to be complacent in my knowledge and abilities, and to realize that there really are no guarantees. In the novel Alice has three children, and as early-onset Alzheimer's disease is genetic, her children have the option to be tested. Two of them choose to be tested- one was positive and one was negative. The third choose not to find out. That made me ponder what I would choose....would I want to know, given there was a 50/50 chance of me having the disease, or would I prefer to go about life without knowing. Hmmm....not sure. That is a hard thing to consider. So, what would you choose- to know or not to know?

Bookclub, games, and fondue

2009-02-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

We had every single member of the Ladies Book Club attend today. What a great time sharing our wedding stories and laughing together. We discussed Blue Heart Blessed by Susan Meissner. A nice, relatively easy read that made me stop and think along the way.

Then, home again just in time to see Maria before she went off to a babysitting job. She is doing more and more babysitting and is enjoying herself. It sure is neat to watch her grow into a young adult. While she was gone, Ken, William and I played S'Math, which is a Scrabble like game where you need to place equations. Ken beat both of us, hands down. We may tweak some of the rules next time. Then, we had a cheese fondue by candlelight, which was very nice. Not sure why we don't dine by candlelight more often. Maria came home and joined in at the end.

Circus Oz

2009-02-06T21:03:00.000-08:00

Today the kids and I went to UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall to see Circus Oz perform. I highly recommend this group! You can see their 2008 promo video by clicking here. Since this was a Schooltime Performance it was an abbreviated show so we saw most but not all of the acts. But, since the price was also extremely abbreviated, that works. Zany, irreverent, alternative, live circus music, and more.

Tonight Ken and I went out on a date to The Shepherd's Kitchen, which was wonderful Mediterranean food. Ken and I ordered Falafel's to share as an appetizer. They were hot and delicious. Ken ordered the Shish Kabob plate and I had the Lamb Kabob plate with extra grilled tomatoes. Both of these dishes were yummy.

Excuse me?

2009-02-03T19:54:00.001-08:00

Excuse me....is it February already? How did that happen? Guess I have fallen off the blogging wagon. What has been going on in our lives? Playgroup, church, visiting my sister, walks, storytime, Pampered Chef party, sleepovers, Superbowl parties, babysitting, Mom's Night Out, entertaining the Dwyers from North Carolina, bowling, walk with Mike Moran of East Bay Parks, PE, birthday lunches, and these are just the things that I actually have listed in my calendar since the last time I posted. I don't typically put in things such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, changing diapers, rolling on the floor and making James laugh, reading, sending out bizarre amounts of emails about various subjects, playing games, watching TV shows via the internet (House and 24), watching Danger Man (old 60's TV show..possible pre-cursor to The Prisoner), lending out books, giving away games, doing Bible study, grocery shopping, connecting various people to one another, answering homeschooling questions, and I am sure there are other things I do. So, I keep myself busy doing the things that are needed, the things that are wanted, and the things that aren't necessary (like playing Hearts by myself on the computer).

Zoom

2009-01-28T23:54:00.000-08:00

Time goes fast in my life. I don't set out to have a busy schedule and then boom...I am off and running with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Sometimes I feel like I am pretty balanced, and then realize that the laundry is going to take over our room if I don't put any away. Not sure how come time is so hard to grasp.

I have been spending a fair amount of time in the last couple of days getting things prepared for my Pampered Chef party this Friday. It looks like there will be about 20 people coming, from all different aspects of my life. I love having people over and introducing them to one another and watching different people connect.

Maria's Birthday

2009-01-24T22:13:00.000-08:00

I have a fourteen year old daughter. How did that happen? I have a hard time believing that she is only 18 months from her permit, 2 years from her license, 4 years from being a legal adult....and the list goes on. I find parenting a balancing act. How to have the appropriate limits for the different ages and what freedoms to allow and when? There are no easy answers, because it is different for each child and certainly is always changing since they are always getting older.

I finished reading People of the Book today and it was a very well-written, compelling story. I did not know what to expect but I was very pleased that I found and read this book. It is neat to think of the history of items and what went into them being created and what they have lived through. I thought this book did a very elegant job of tracing the history of the creation of a book. I read certain books such as this one and am amazed at how a writer can craft words and ideas together to create such an enjoyable read.

Wedding!

2009-01-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

Today was a first Ken and for our house....a wedding. I met Holly through playgroup last year and tonight she and Mark got married by Ken at our house tonight. Congratulations! I was going to post a picture but realized they are all on their camera...I just have the video.

We then went out to Indian food and celebrated with good food and conversation. I am so blessed to have people like this in my life.

James also went to his first storytime at the library. Miss Denise is the one who does the lapsit storytimes....just like when Maria and William were little ones. Nothing like a bit of deja vu.

Cardio Tennis

2009-01-20T21:39:00.000-08:00

The third class at the health club. This time it was Cardio Tennis. Huff...puff...wow, what a workout. It was fun being outside and running around on the court...makes me want to get a program going with some kids. Of course I would need to remember some of the exercises that she had us do...but something I will let percolate in my mind.

I just organized all of my random recipes that I have printed off the internet, gotten from friends, or torn out of magazines. The amount of time I spent looking through the huge stack of random papers was getting frustrating, so I put them all in plastic sleeves and did a rough division...drinks, breakfast, breads, side dishes, main dishes, and desserts. I need to go back through and divide these categories into smaller chunks, but at least it is now manageable again. I realize how much more I have been cooking for my family recently. That makes me feel good.

I love spell check...it would be very embarrasing to see my posts without spell check being utilized! My older kids are in a spelling bee at the end of the week and William is quite the natural speller. I often ask him how to spell word when I am stuck. Amazing how everyone's mind is wired a bit differently.

Off to do some typical chores....I am pretty thankful that I can do them. I have the physical capabilty of doing them, I have a house that needs tidying, I have enough clothes that I can do laundry and let it stack up, I have a bed that needs to be made, I have new towels that need to be washed, I have books and schoolwork and paperwork that need to be put into their proper places, I have a shower I can take a long, hot shower and listen to the radio, I have knitting I want to do as long as the urge to read doesn't overtake me, I have sooooo much to be thankful for.

What's Your Word?

2009-01-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

What's Your Word? I read about this on some different friend's blogs and took the quiz. My word is:

"You see life as an amazing mix of possibilities, ideas, and fascinations. And sometimes you feel like you don't have enough time to take it all in. You love learning. Whether you're in school or not, you're probably immersed in several subjects right now. When you're not learning, you're busy reflecting. You think a lot about the people you know and the things you've experienced."

Right now what am I in the middle of? Knitting a scarf for William, putting together a group camping trip for June, preparing for 3 of my 4 bookclubs that are meeting this weekend, thinking about what to do in my garden (anyone want to come and weed/prepare soil/prune/plant with me?), organizing a field trip on February 6 and I am sure there are other things too! But, I hear James waking up for his nap, so time to go to him and put these other things to the side.

Sympathy

2009-01-13T18:39:00.001-08:00

I now have sympathy for Dan on the last season of Amazing Race. While I did not have $1,000,000 at stake, I certainly managed to have just as much trouble following simple directions with my arms and legs. Today was the second day of my free trial class at Diamond Hills Sports Club and today was the Kardio Kick class. While I enjoyed the class and it certainly got my heart pumping, my form and technique left a bit to be desired. I am glad that no one was filming me and putting it on You Tube.

Blast from the past

2009-01-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

Playgroup was today...and it turned into a fieldtrip! We were sitting around talking and at the end three of us ended up loading up my van with car seats and headed out to IKEA with our little ones. Things are definitely more fun with friends. It reminded me of going places when Maria and William were little.

Earlier in the day, Ken had sent me an email with this Subject: "It's amazing what one can find on the internet" and there was a picture attached.

Lo and behold, a picture of me from about 20 years ago!

Discovery of Trail

2009-01-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

Isn't it weird how you can live in a place for years and years and still discover new things? I have always had a hazy knowledge of a trail near our house, but it wasn't until yesterday that Ken, James and I went on it together. I then took James, Maria and William on it today.

James loves going for walks....he views it as his mobile naptime.

The path is about a 3 mile round trip walk and has four exercise stations along the way. We did some of them this time, but mostly fooled around. Here is William hanging out.

The trail goes right along a creek, so it is a totally different feel than walking in the neighborhood. Maria enjoyed going down near the creek.

So, if anyone wants to pop on over to my house and head out for a three mile walk, come on over! I am loving that I discovered this and want to go more often. And being the extrovert that I am, walking with others is a huge motivation for me.

Bookclubs

2009-01-09T21:06:00.001-08:00

I like to read. A lot. I can't imagine life without books. Or the library. I am part of four bookclubs, which rarely meet at the same time. But this month three of them are on the same weekend. I typically try to read the book right before bookclub, but I now need to get a move on three books before next weekend. The first book is Jimmy by Robert Whitlow for Saturday, the next is The Human Comedy by William Saroyan for Sunday and the last is The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper for Monday. I love meeting with other people that enjoy books and I also get exposed to books I wouldn't have necessarily read on my own.

Here is an excerpt from The Human Comedy, page 17: "You must remember," she said, "always to give, of everything you have. You must give foolishly even. You must be extravagant. You must give to all who come into your life. Then nothing and no one shall have the power to cheat you of anything, for if you give to a thief, he cannot steal from you, and he himself is then no longer a thief. And the more you give, the more you will have to give."

This is challenging....made me stop and ponder what I give, what I give freely, and what I hold on to, let alone what I cling to.

Game Night!

2009-01-08T21:42:00.001-08:00

Thursday night- Pizza and Game Night at the Balderrama's. Well, instead of pizza tonight, we went to the Texas Roadhouse in Tracy, one of our favorite recipes. Nothing like steak and ribs and loaded sweet potatoes! My husband sat next to James and he was a fantastic multi-tasker. He managed to feed James all kinds of different food from the table (bread, crackers, sweet potatoes...not sure if any french fries snuck in) while engaging in conversations and eating his own food. What an awesome guy! We then came home and played a few games of poker and one round of Hearts.

What else has been keeping us busy? Community Bible Study started up yesterday. How nice it was to be back together with friends and learning more about God's word. Playgroup was also yesterday and there was a great turnout. I am trying to walk to as many things as possible and it is great being able to have the time to do this.

And how could I forget the big event of today....today was the Geography Bee that Maria and William both participated in. Granted, we did all of no preparation for this, but it sure was neat to listen to the answers. Thirteen students participated and William made it to the second of three rounds and Maria ended up tying for third place. I was very impressed with both of them.

Mat Pilates

2009-01-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

I did a mat Pilates class today at Diamond Hills Sports Club. Ouch! I found out I am not as limber as I once was. But what a beautiful club with great facilities. I am taking four free classes there this month and that has gotten Ken and I to start talking about possibly joining a health club again. So we will be looking at Diamond Hills along with Club One and In Shape. While the price per month is a definite factor, the bigger factor is which one would we actually use. That is the real trick to a health club....not getting a membership, but using the membership consistently!

I just finished reading Blood River today which is the true story of journalist Tim Butcher's recreating a Victorian gentleman's journey on the Congo River. This was an amazing book. The areas he travelled were more modern in the 50's than they are today...it is one of the few places on earth that the grandparents have lived more progressively than their grandchildren. This was also where The African Queen was filmed, so now I am watching this film. I am fascinated by how various books and videos come into my life. I sometimes go to the library and get books off the hold shelf, and I have no idea why I put them on hold, but they will be gems.

Had one of the freezer meals today- Playoff Burgers. Yummy. How nice that was to have sitting in the refrigerator, waiting to be cooked. It took away all the temptation of going out to dinner and it was so nice to sit down as a family at the table. James joined in, but he ate banana, sweet potato, oatmeal and apple sauce instead.

The End of the Soup

2009-01-04T23:08:00.001-08:00

We had the Herinks over for dinner tonight and while the food was good, the conversation was even better. I love listening and participating in conversations that run the gamut from politics to religion to economics to Star Trek to families to homeschooling to computers to community to recipes to travels to gambling to books to .... you get the picture! A whole lot of talking over a wide range of topics.

Earlier in the day the soup kitchen was open. Holly came over and grabbed some of the Black Bean Salsa Chicken soup and we had a nice visit with her. Then the Herinks were served the two different soups. And at the end of dinner, Sonya came over and was able to take the rest of both of the soups. We are happy to see them go since we have been noshing on them for a few days and there still isn't room in the freezer. Plus, it is great to see things like this being able to be shared. I want to live my life more communally and sharing food either at our table or with other people to take home helps satisfy that desire. So...if you want to come on over and break bread with us, we would love to have you.

Lunch out with Auntabelle

2009-01-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo! I got to see my sister Annabelle today! James sure loves hanging out with his Auntabelle.

We met her today at her friend Serafine's new home in Concord. We went out to lunch at Sorrento Italian Restaurant and it was fabulous. I had the Pasta Salvietto which was a fresh pasta roll with ricotta cheese, spinach, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce served with sauteed fresh vegetables and choice of soup or salad. My mouth is watering just remembering it.

I came home to a house cleared of all Christmas decorations and fairly picked up overall. BIG GRIN! My mantra needs to be declutter, declutter, declutter. New things keep coming into the house every day it seems...even the mail is a struggle for me.

Right now as I am blogging, James is snoozing and Ken and the older kids are playing Nintendo Monopoly which William got for Christmas. I would have been playing....but for Maria's monopoly wiping me almost all the way out and then William cleaning out the rest of my money. Sigh.

Free Food!

2009-01-02T16:44:00.001-08:00

We were going to have some friends over for dinner, but due to a few members of the family being mildly sick, we decided to postpone our gathering. But, I have a huge pot of Turkey Soup and a huge crockpot (new for Christmas!) full of Black Bean and Salsa Chicken, which is a bit thicker than soup, but basically soup like. I was getting ready to freeze it when I realized there is no room in my freezer. So, I have some soups available for anyone that is interested! Drop me a line or give me a call and I can bag some of either kind or both for you.

Cooking galore!

2009-01-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

I did it! I completed the cooking I set out to do today. Granted, I didn't move to the next thing on my list, which was to take down Christmas decorations. But, I felt pretty good about the cooking. Yesterday I made 4 meals and today I made 10 meals. Granted, most of these were just the main entree, not complete meals, but this will certainly make my life easier for this month. Now I just need to think about side dishes to go with meals, and I pretty much have the month loosely mapped out in terms of meals. And Thursday nights were easy....they are our family pizza and game night. Where did we go tonight? Straw Hat because we had a coupon and we played Rook for the first time.

New Years Eve

2008-12-31T23:43:00.000-08:00

The end of the year. It is always a time of reassessing what has happened the previous year and pondering what to change for the next year. I plan on reading through the Bible this year using The One Year Bible reading plan and The One Year Bible Companion, which is a handbook of key questions and answers to daily readings in the One Year Bible. Resolutions? Not so much. But I do try to start out things this time of the year...something about a fresh start seems so positive.

What did we do today, the last day of 2008? We helped stimulate the economy by purchasing a brand new Toyota Sienna, right off the showroom floor. What are the odds of finding a van with the exact options we wanted on the showroom floor?

This evening we went to Mark and Cindi's house for a New Year's Eve party. It was a very relaxing time of chatting and catching up with people, while the kids played and played and played. Unfortunately, William ended up getting sick around 11ish, so we needed to leave early. Poor guy.

So, may the new year bring many adventures into your lives and I look forward to seeing what is around the next corner for us.

Uneventful day

2008-12-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

What a nice, uneventful day. I went and did my major shopping trip for making two weeks of food to put in the freezer. I am hoping to do that tomorrow but there is a good chance that we may be buying a new van tomorrow. We went to look at them and it was pretty clear which one made sense for us. So, depending on how long that takes, I may or may not have time/energy to make the 14 different meals. But, I have the food in the house, so I am motivated.

OK...I just went through my grocery list to see how much I actually spent. I had a few items at home so I guesstimated those prices and I did not include any of the staples. The total was just under $110. That would be for 14 meals, each typically serving more than enough for a dinner for four and then sometimes lunch the next day for 2-4 people. Definitely cheaper than going out.

Jelly Belly Factory

2008-12-29T21:54:00.000-08:00

Advice for visiting the Jelly Belly Factory a few days after Christmas...don't. even. think. about. it. We drove there today to go on a tour and when we arrived saw a huge line out the door and around the building. I thought it was for some special event. Nope. It was just for the tour. I went to a point in the line far enough back that I have never had to wait from that point even, and asked how long they had waited. More than an hour! Oh my. Change of plans. We went and looked at the Jelly Belly Factory store and bought some yummies. No tour this time. But still managed to get a picture of James before leaving.

Meal planning followup. I have had a number of people ask me about preparing meals in advance. I checked out quite a few books from the library and ended up trying Mimi Wilson's "Once-a-Month Cooking" which has three 2 week plans and 2 one month plans. I have done a two week plan and liked the recipes enough that I went out and purchased the book. I am now preparing to do another two week plan in the next couple of days.

The saga of the van continues. Now, in addition to the transmission acting up, the air conditioner doesn't work, some of the dashboard lights don't light sometimes, there are weird sporadic noises, the back top brake light doesn't light, and I am sure there are a few more things I am forgetting, the pièce de résistance is when we were leaving the Jelly Belly Factory, a horrible smell and white smoke come from my car. We pull over, look at the engine, and nothing looks amiss. So, I drive home cautiously with no issues....but I think the van has now lost my vote of confidence. So, off to the car lot soon. We are entertaining the possibility of a Toyota Sierra or a Honda Odyssey. Sigh. I like my van....but want reliability too.

Happy Anniversary!!!

2008-12-28T22:47:00.001-08:00

Happy Anniversary to me! Ken and I have been married 17 years....wow, that makes me feel old. In four years, I will have been married half my life. We went out to dinner at Rubio's and then to the movies to see Valkyrie . We ended the evening at Uno Chicago Grill for desserts.

Gary West spoke today at church. One of my take-aways was when you see a penny on the ground to stop, pick it up, read the words "In God We Trust" and then personalize that. Am I trusting God right now? I need to be asking myself that question over and over and over, mostly to keep reminding myself where my trust needs to be.

Horse Racing

2008-12-27T22:04:00.000-08:00

We went to Golden Gate Fields to watch the horse races today with my sister Julie and her husband Bob. It was an interesting experience, but a tad bit on the boring side. The races were 30 minutes apart, so a lot of sitting around and waiting, and then boom, the race started and finished in a blink of an eye! And, since we had no money riding on the results, it wasn't as enthralling. But, of the four races we watched, I picked two of the first place horses.

We then went to Fentons Creamery in Oakland for lunch and ice cream. Yummy! Nothing like a little ice cream sundae or banana split to fill up the belly.

Then, a relaxing evening at home. This is the good life. I love watching my dad with James. It is definitely heartwarming.

I am currently reading Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost and I have to say, it does not make me want to travel to China. While I am sure there are wonderful places to visit in such an enormous country, it sounds like it is a hard country to travel in. Plus...I am just a picky eater...not sure I could handle some of the food served. Normally when I read travel books, I get the itch to get on the move. But this book makes me realize how nice it can be just to stay home. But, I want to learn to be content in whatever my circumstances and to try to stay in the center of God's will. That is the safest place for me to be, regardless of the physical location.

Oh, another thing I did this evening was try to map out the meals for the month of January. We will see how that actually goes. I plan on preparing 13 meals that will go in the freezer one day coming up and then I added other family favorites for the other days. Just trying to be a good steward of my time and also of feeding my family. It is too easy for me to go out to lunch or dinner because nothing is planned.

Toys!

2008-12-26T22:40:00.000-08:00

James is just starting to sit up and play more intentionally with his toys. He doesn't crawl yet, but squirms around, rolls, pushes and pulls and gets to where he wants to be. It is pretty addicting sitting around and watching him play with his new toys. His favorite gift....a carrot! Maria bought it for him from http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=306044 We definitely plan on adding to his collection going forward. Now....if only I could learn to make these we would be set. But I have a feeling that we just may keep the other lady in business instead.

Although I just found my bag of knitting supplies and have contemplating starting to knit again. The problem is time. 24 hours in a day. 7 days is a week. 365 (sometimes 366) days in a year. And I find that the lure of books is so strong. Right now I am reading Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones. I really liked Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, so thought I would give this a try. I am definitely enjoying the following of a character from pre-birth to young adulthood, although I am only on page 159 of 603, so I am assuming that the book will end at his death. But, haven't read the last chapter yet, so not sure where the end will be. I like the writing style too.

What toys are the older kids enjoying this year? Ipods! Both Maria and William got Ipods and have been on ITunes buying a few songs, games, videos, and TV shows. They didn't receive a whole bunch of toys this year...funny how things change when you get older. They each received a DVD and have watched both Wall-E and Sleeping Beauty. And what toys did I get? Kitchen toys! I am looking forward to trying out my new Kitchen Aid...I have never had one of these before, so it will be fun to see what it can do.

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

How am I supposed to sum up today. Not only am I exhausted but it was such a full day! From waking up early with James, 4ish, 5ish...I forget now, it was early, making a breakfast casserole, taking pictures of the kids in front of the Christmas tree, opening presents all morning, nursing, eating more cookies, cleaning up the kitchen and wrapping paper, loading up the van with seven people and driving to El Dorado, visiting with extended family, eating an amazing dinner, opening more presents, driving home.....I am a bit on overload. We took 108 pictures yesterday and today....and didn't catch all aspects! I am so blessed to have a great family and wonderful in-laws. Sure makes the holidays easier. Here are some photos that may allow a glimpse into our day. OK...I am tired and I am having trouble figuring out how to easily put pictures where I want in my post. Maybe another day. I am off to bed now.

Here are the answers to the Christmas Scripture Quiz.

1. How many wise men were there? c. The Bible does not say.

2. Did Joseph meet the wise men? c. The Bible does not say.
3. What animal did Mary ride to Bethlehem? d. The Bible does not say.
4. The Holy Family named the child "Jesus" because: c. All of the above.
5. What type of building was Jesus born in? d. The Bible does not say.
6. What animals were present at the Nativity? e. The Bible does not say.
7. Who besides the wise men saw the star? c. The Bible does not say.
8. How did the star compare in brightness with the other stars? d. The Bible does not say.
9. How soon after Joseph and Mary reached Bethlehem was Jesus born? c. The Bible does not say.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T23:07:00.000-08:00

I am sleepy. I am happy. I am full. What a fun day full of food, conversations, food, visitors, food, and oh, did I say food! Things are winding down at our house as the kids and my dad are all in bed, the presents are under the tree, the dishwasher is running, my two sisters and their husbands are getting ready for bed, and I am soon to go to upstairs too. Christmas Eve dinner, or should I say feast, was prepared by Ethan. We had chicken, lamb, steak, and duck, Persian beef shanks as our meats. We had a savory tajine, a sweet tajine, some bbq'd meat, couscous, hummus, tabouli, a fancy salad with star fruit and two kinds of fresh roasted beets and argula, two kinds of olives, lavash bread, raita, pomegranate seeds (thanks Sarah!), rolls, and a variety of sparking juices. To say I am stuffed would be an understatement. Now, off to bed for me!

Christmas Video

2008-12-24T05:11:00.000-08:00

No Christmas cards this year, but we do want to send a video along of our kids. It expires January 15, just in case you are reading this late.

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/5RVeng5bEViLdoUQ

Christmas Quiz

2008-12-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas Eve Eve! My husband arranged to have house cleaners come today, so I took off and did some shopping and errands with the kids. When we got back, I felt like I was entering a brand new house. I am so thankful for my awesome husband!

And now, get your thinking caps on and get ready for a pop quiz! And, don't forget to stop by on Christmas Eve for some cookies (and crackers and cheese and salami and grapes and sparking cinder and....)!

Christmas Scripture Quiz
Take this short quiz to test how well you know the Nativity stories in Luke and Matthew. How much of our traditional celebrations of Christmas is actually found in the scripture text and how much is tradition built up over the centuries? Answers will be published tomorrow.

1. How many wise men were there? a. 3 b. 4 c. The Bible does not say.
2. Did Joseph meet the wise men? a. Yes b. No c. The Bible does not say.
3. What animal did Mary ride to Bethlehem? a. Donkey b. Small horse c. Llama d. The Bible does not say.
4. The Holy Family named the child "Jesus" because: a. An Angel told Mary to use the name. b. An Angel told Joseph to use the name. c. All of the above. d. None of the above.
5. What type of building was Jesus born in? a. Stable b. Cave c. Inn d. The Bible does not say.
6. What animals were present at the Nativity? a. Cattle b. Sheep c. Doves d. All of the above e. The Bible does not say.
7. Who besides the wise men saw the star? a. The shepherds b. King Herod's astrologers c. The Bible does not say.
8. How did the star compare in brightness with the other stars? a. Brighter b. Equivalent c. A faint glow over the horizon. d. The Bible does not say.
9. How soon after Joseph and Mary reached Bethlehem was Jesus born? a. Within minutes. b. That night c. The Bible does not say.

Wrapping

2008-12-22T23:22:00.000-08:00

No baking today! Today was playgroup day and we took another fun picture of all the kids dressed up in their holiday clothing, along with a nice little gift exchange. Then I came home and straightened up the house and started my wrapping. I only have a few more things to wrap that need a little more work before they get wrapped. This evening I had a book club meeting (which I almost forgot about...opps!) and it was so nice to sit and chat with new and old friends. I also saw a couple of ladies I know from a homeschool group who were meeting for a Mom's Night Out, so that was neat.

Hmm...I thought I had something else to share, but now I don't remember! It is late...time for bed.

Last of the Baking

2008-12-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

This morning Pastor Larry was sick so was unable to preach. Instead, Pastor Rich filled in and spoke on Matthew 1:1-17. This is the genealogy of Jesus Christ and it was fascinating to hear a sermon unpacking this section. There are four women mentioned, when traditionally women would not be included in a genealogy. And none of the four women mentioned would be considered the paragon of holiness, at least not from outward appearances. One women was raped, another a prostitute, another a Moabite, and the fourth being Mary, a teenage pregnant girl. Another thing that really stood out to me was verse 16 "and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." This verse is a marked departure from the 14 above it where the man always was named as the son of son and so and then the father of so and so. Here, Joseph is named as the son of Jacob and the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus.

I finished my Christmas baking, and amazingly enough, on the day I planned! Now, if everything else goes according to plan, this will be one low stress Christmas. I made fudge from a recipe that Ken's sister, Julie shared, another round of Chocolate Crackles and Cheesecake Cookies. The kids made their Gingerbread houses today and they turned out great. Some years they put more decorations, other years less.

I went back to my previous posts and added all the recipes or links to recipes for the Christmas baking I have done. I have had some requests for the recipes already, so thought I would go ahead and add them all in.

Fudge (thanks Julie)

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 square (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate
1 ½ cups chopped nuts, if desired
1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter square pan, 8x8x2 inches. I double recipe and used a 9x13 pan. Heat sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Spread in pan. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into 1-inch squares.

Cheesecake Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature

3 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2.5 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

Cheese Filling (recipe follows)

In large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, lemon peel, and lemon juice, stir until blended. Add flour and baking powder and stir until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. Roll small balls of dough into balls, then roll into crumbs to coat all sides. Place balls on lightly greased baking sheet; flatten each ball slightly and make and indentation in top of each cookie (don't press all the way through to baking sheet) and fill with about 1/2 teaspoon Cheese Filling. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 25 minutes. Cool and store airtight.

Cheese Filling

In a small bowl, combine 3 oz room temperature cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon sour cream,and 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel. Beat until smooth.

More goodies!

2008-12-20T21:50:00.000-08:00

Today I made Oatmeal Everything Bars, Peanut Butter Cereal Bars and No Bake Peanut Squares- three new recipes for me. And they all turned out! Maria and William went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to make Sugar Cookies, which turned out beautifully, and to spend the day with them. In the evening, after James went to bed, Ken and I went over to Steve and Jane's house for a very nice Christmas gathering. Nathan and Sonja spent the night, and Maria and Sonja made Gingerbread Cookies that look great. Tomorrow is my last big baking push. Ideally I hope to make Fudge, Cheesecake Cookies, and at least one more batch of Chocolate Crackles.

Peanut Butter Cereal Bars (thanks Bucherts!)
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 cups corn syrup
1.5 cups peanut butter
9 cups frosted flakes

In large pot, bring to a boil sugar and corn syrup. Turn off burner and add peanut butter. Stir until melted. Add frosted flakes and stir quickly to coat. Pour into buttered 9x13 pan. Cut into squares after a few minutes.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Squares (Thanks to someone from CBS...forgot who!)
1.5 cups powdered sugar
1 cup graham cracker crumbs, about 12 squares (I used a food processor)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips

In medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs. In pan, melt butter and peanut butter over low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir into crumb mixture. Press in ungreased 8-inch square pan. I doubled the recipe and used a 9x13 pan. In another pan or microwave, melt chocolate chips over low heat. Spread over crumb mixture. Refrigerate about 30 minute or until firm. Then, cut into small squares.

Cookie request?

2008-12-20T08:42:00.001-08:00

OK...off to the market and more baking today! I would like to get my baking done by this Sunday evening, so that on Monday I can tidy my house so the house cleaners can clean on Tuesday. So, any cookie/treat requests? Recipes welcome too!

Pomegranates and Figs

2008-12-19T21:23:00.001-08:00

Today we all went to UC Berkeley to see Pomegranates and Figs: A Jewish Feast of Music. The music was amazing and it was so much fun to watch James enjoy it too, when he wasn't nursing. Then on to IKEA for lunch (can you say four orders of Swedish Meatballs!) and some shopping. We then headed home, but first dropped Maria off at the Bramblet's, who took her to the mall where she performed with her choir. Ken picked her up later while I stayed home and baked. One more batch of Oreo Truffles were finished and I experimented with a new recipe, English Toffee Cookies. Well, they taste great, but they didn't come out of the pan nicely. About half of them crumbled and broke. So I have one container of cookie pieces and crumbs, and another container with decent looking but good tasting cookies. Better that than nice looking and awful tasting!

I am liking the ability to list the books I have read. I never have kept track before, and it is fun being able to look over them. I like reading a variety of genres and typically have a number of books going at the same time. Currently I am reading Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card (one of my absolute favorite authors) and Lost on Planet China or How I Learned to Love Live Squid by J. Maarten Troost, which I am heartily enjoying. It is a hard book to read next to someone without wanting to read snippits outloud every other page. There are a lot of interesting observations, typically quite humerous. I have read most of his other books and definitely enjoy his writing style and observations he makes about other cultures.

We are taking the next two weeks off from school. We use Sonlight for history and literature and are doing Core Alt 7, which is World History, Apologia for Physical Science (although the book is currently hiding somewhere in our house....need to track that down), ALEKS for math, and life in general to learn.

English Toffee Cookies
from Sunset All-Time Favorite Recipes, copyright 1993

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg, separated
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolk and beat until blended. Stir in cinnamon and flour. Press dough smoothly and evenly over bottom of greased 10x15 rimmed baking pan (I think my pan was a tad bit bigger, which made it too thin in places.) In a small bowl, lightly beat egg white, then brush over dough. Sprinkle with pecans, pressing them lightly into dough. Bake in a 275 degree over for about 1 hour. While cookie is still hot, cut it into about 1.5 inch squares. Let cool in pan (maybe until slightly warm...this might help too).

Playgroup Picture

2008-12-18T22:32:00.000-08:00

Today was a nice, relaxing day. I am really enjoying baking this year. I baked the Chrabeli cookies this morning and this evening I made Saltine Toffee Cookies. I am looking forward to sharing these with friends on Christmas Eve. So, baking is going good...but not sure about getting Christmas cards out this year. Maybe they will turn into New Years Cards. Or maybe an internet card. Or maybe nothing at all. As much as I like doing cards, I am feeling a bit of pressure now that I didn't get them out significantly earlier in the month. Then, it isn't as much fun to do them.

This afternoon was playgroup for James. All the kids in the playgroup are boys except for one girl, who wasn't able to attend this meeting. It will be fun watching them grow up together. They are already doing so much more than when we first started meeting. There were at least three crawlers this week, and more to be coming!

From left to right: Ryan, Stephen, Phoenix, Connor, James, Dylan and Trevor

Saltine Toffee Cookies

4-5 ounces saltine crackers
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheet with saltine crackers, salt side down, in a single layer. In a saucepan combine the sugar and butter. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate and top with chopped nuts. Cool completely and break into pieces.

Christmas Cookies

2008-12-17T22:35:00.000-08:00

I had a great day today. I went out to lunch with my hubby, made two different kinds of cookies, went to a holiday gathering, and finished the book "Breaking Dawn," one of the books in the Twilight series.

I also just sent out an invite to join us at our house on Christmas Eve for an Open House...so now I am motivated to make even more cookies! Today I made Oreo Truffles (not really a cookie, but yummy) and I did the first stage of Chrabeli, a Swiss anise cookie that I grew up eating a Christmas time. Those will go in the oven tomorrow morning after sitting out all night. Who knows what will cookies will be baked next!

I made a super simple dinner tonight Barbecue Chicken Casserole since I had all the ingredients in the house. Quick, easy, and the whole family loves it. What more could I ask for! Plus, I am trying to cook the things that are in the refrigerator because I know we will be needing room to store cookies and treats.

Chrabeli
9 eggs, room temperature
1,000 grams powdered sugar
pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons anise seed, lightly toasted in skillet
1,000 grams flour

Beat eggs, then beat in powdered sugar until frothy. Add salt and anise seed. Add flour in slowly. Dough will be very dry. Take a fistful of dough and roll into about 3/4 inch tubes. Cut into about 2-3 inch sections. Cut three diagonal slits into one side of each piece. Bend the cookies to open the slits, flaring out the cuts. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Let sit overnight. Cook at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Have oven door slightly ajar. Stick something metal like a garlic press in the opening.

Pizza and Family Game Night

2008-12-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

We used to have a pizza and family game night every Thursday, but since James has come it has been sporadic at best. Tonight we had Little Caesars Pizza and played two games- we started with Sequence, which we just got at a family game exchange night (thanks Abasolo's!) and then finished with Set. Earlier in the day Maria, James and I went to an Explorer's Holiday event, where Maria decorated a gingerbread cake train. Yummy, yummy, yummy. I am eating some as I type this in fact.

One of the things we are doing with James that I was not familiar with my older two kids is EC. EC is eliminating communication and it involves taking babies to use a potty at an early age. I stumbled upon a book at the library titled Early Start Potty Training when James was about 1 month. We started taking him to the potty, holding him over and cuing him to go, and amazingly enough, it works! We don't catch all of his pees or poops, but we get a lot, especially the poops. The things that make me happy sure have changed!

Bookclub

2008-12-14T22:47:00.001-08:00

Just got home from a great evening with one of my bookclubs. We discussed The Shack and it seemed that of the people that read it, most liked it. There was a lot of good topics to discuss in and through this book. There are a variety of beliefs and backgrounds of people in the group and I thought it was neat to hear other people's perspective.

I finished The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein yesterday and while I am not overly fond of memoirs, this one was very well written and a fascinating story of a Jewish boy growing up in England during World War I, and how one side of the street was Jewish and the other side of the street was Christian.

I made an Antipasto Salad to share at bookclub. This is getting to be one of my signature dishes to bring to potlucks: yummy, easy to transport, good for groups. I originally got the recipe from AllRecipes.com, but have modified it.

On a totally different note, may I suggest a great website: http://www.thebricktestament.com/index.html. We have two of his books, and they are a riot. The Bible, illustrated with Lego figures. Enough said.

Antipasto Salad

2 small bags or 1 large bag of lettuce with carrots
8 ounces hard salami, julienned (you can also substitute or add pepperoni)
1.5-2 bags shredded Italian Blend cheese (or mozzarella/provolone/etc.)
2-3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 can pitted ripe olives , drained, halved
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Place lettuce on a large serving platter. Put salami, cheese, tomato and olives on top. In a blender, combine remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Drizzle over salad.

Expectations

2008-12-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

Expectations. This is where I find I have the most trouble. My expectations do not always match up with reality and that is where I fall down. My attitude, my thoughts, my words, my actions, most of the time, they all go into the gutter. I need to stop myself from going down that path but I don't always know how.

On to another subject. I just finished reading the book "The Shack" for bookgroup tomorrow and I am very curious to hear what other people think. I am always wary of books that people say are must reads and seem to be the popular book of the day. I was pleasantly surprised with this book- a relatively easy read but one that had a lot of different thoughts to ponder. It is a decidedly Christian book with a unique way of presenting not only the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), but also of pointing out a different perspective than the world's point of view. Living out life according to God's priorities can seem topsy turvy compared to the world's priorities.

And, in the world of cooking, we started making Christmas cookies today. We made a double batch of Chocolate Crackle Cookies. Maria, William and I made the dough, and then Maria and William actually formed and baked the cookies. Yum!

Chocolate Crackles
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup salad oil
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 cup flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup or so of powdered sugar

Melt chocolate. Beat with sugar and oil. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add vanilla. Combine flour, backing powder and salt. Add to chocolate mixture. Chill dough. Make small balls of dough, about 1 inch diameter. Roll spheres in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on rack.

Busy?

2008-12-12T21:32:00.001-08:00

Today was a full day, but not as busy as I used to feel. This is an area that has greatly changed in my life. There is definitely more margin in many aspects of my life. The small group I am in went through a DVD series called "Take It to the Limit: How to Get the Most Out of Life" by Andy Stanley a few years ago and it greatly impacted my life. God has already been showing me some areas that needed to be changed and this study helped me focus.

Today was full of dentist appointments, Christmas parties, a piano make-up class, grocery shopping, and then ended with a wonderful meal at my in-laws in Concord. So while the day was full of great things (yes, even the dentist....I am thankful I live someplace where I can go to a dental office and even better, one that I trust) and I didn't have a lot of down time or at home time, I did not feel rushed or harried.

Shopping

2008-12-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

I realized today that Christmas is rapidly approaching and I hadn't made a list of what gifts I had already gotten and what needed to still be acquired. Once the list was made, I realized that while some people were completely taken care of, there were still some family members that were in desperate need of gifts. So, off to the stores today with James. What a trooper he is. We got a lot accomplished, but there is more to go. I also got to stop and chat with my friends Don and Jeanne, as I was picking up a bookmark that Don had made. What an amazing woodworker he is- I am amazed at his talent.

I did finish all the Christmas decorations today (well, except for the lights outside that may or may not go up) and cleaned up the residual mess of boxes. I had a short, nice visit with Tonya as she stopped by with a tray of Christmas goodies. Yumm! If anyone ever wants to stop by, feel free to come on over. You don't need to come bearing treats, we love entertaining people, even if it is just for a quick hello.

If you are wondering why there have been no recipes....it is because La Costa and In N Out don't have recipes, just menus! I have been busy doing other things, so out for food we went yesterday and tonight.

I am in the middle of reading a few books. I am reading The Shack and Going Dutch in Beijing : How to Behave Properly When Far Away From Home. I find that James is nursing less, so I am reading less. Hmmm....need to find other times to slip in the reading time!

My next blog hurdle to tackle is pictures....perhaps this weekend.

Christmas Decorations

2008-12-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight we finally got around to putting up Christmas decorations. I figured if we didn't do it soon, it would be too late. It is apparent as the decorations are going up that I am more interested in the sentimentiality of things than having a theme or certain style. Colorful, fun, whimsical...those would be some potential words to describe our decorations. That, and nativity sets....I have around 25-30 of them so far. Listening to Christmas music via the internet, watching the kids decorate the tree, it is indeed a very nice time of the year!

Small Group

2008-12-09T21:26:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our small group's Christmas Potluck, hosted at Dora and Gilbert's house. Great food and conversations. I miss going to small group. This is one area that James' has impacted our lives...he goes to sleep 6:30/7ish, so I stay home with him instead of going to small group. But I sure miss going. That is where church occurs, more so than what happens on a Sunday. Life on life, learning, praying, sharing our lives with one another....this is the body, this is church.

I made a soup for the potluck, and it was a hit. I adapted it from one of the recipes from http://www.crockpot365.blogspot.com/, a blog I am really enjoying and has brought the crockpot back into use again at our house.

Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 pound chicken breast – frozen works
2 cups dried black beans
3 cans or 1 large container chicken broth
1 can corn, drained, or frozen corn
1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz), medium
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (to stir in at the end)
shredded cheddar cheese, avocado slices, cilantro (all optional)

Soak the black beans in enough water to cover and another 2 inches overnight. In the morning, drain the water and rinse the beans. Put beans in the crockpot. Put in the chicken, and add the broth and salsa. Pour in the corn and add the cumin. Stir, but don't disturb the beans---let them stay at the bottom of the pot, closest to the heating element. Cover and cook on high for 9 hours.
Remove chicken and fork shred on a plate. I left the lid off while I was doing this so that it would thicken up a bit. While chicken is out, scoop out 4-5 cups of the soup and carefully blend in your traditional blender. Stir the mixture back into the crockpot. Add shredded chicken back. Stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream/plain yogurt before serving. Garnish with shredded cheese, avocado slices or cilantro. This is yummy with cornbread.

Pumpkin Muffins

2008-12-08T22:54:00.000-08:00

Last night I finished What is the What. This is an incredible story of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and there were many things in the book that made me stop and think.

Today was playgroup for James.....it sure is fun to meet with other mom's and watch all of our little ones change and grow. I then baked 5 dozen Pumpkin Muffins for a Mom's Night Out treat exchange which I just got back from.

Pumpkin Muffins
2 cups flour (I use whole wheat flour typically)
2 cups brown sugar (I don’t pack it down)
2 Tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
2 cups pumpkin (I use 1 large can)
1 cup milk
4 eggs
2/3 cup shortening
2 more cups of flour

Grease muffin cups or place in paper liners. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and cloves. If you don’t have all the spices, do without. Or, use pumpkin pie spice instead. Add pumpkin, milk, eggs and shortening. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until blended. Beat on medium to high speed for two minutes. Add the remaining two cups of flour; beat until blended. Fill muffin cups ½- ¾ of the way. I use an ice-cream scoop to make it easier. Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes about 36 muffins.

Bliss

2008-12-07T23:07:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day. First was church where we sang Christmas carols and Pastor Larry preached a sermon titled "Remember that God is For Us" from Romans 8:31-34. We invited the Hartsooks to join us for a turkey dinner, and were thrilled that they were free later in the day. The afternoon was full of shopping and preparing food and getting the house ready, along with feeding James. I love nursing him, and I get a lot of good reading time in. Almost finished with What is the What...I am planning on finishing it tonight. (I think I like italicizing titles better than underlining, makes the hyperlinking less confusing.) I took Maria to perform with Heavenbound Choir at Lone Tree Convalescent Hospital, where she ended up reading some passages from the Bible, sharing her testimony and leading prayer time. Then back home, where people started to come and join us. First the Hartsooks who came bearing some yummy desserts. Another family, the Sundin's, were next and they also joined us for dinner. Last but certainly not least, the Yrigollen family joined us for dessert.

Church, shopping, cooking, entertaining, people coming and going from the house, that pretty much is one great day in my world! Looking forward to what this next week holds.

2008-12-06T21:12:00.001-08:00

Woo hoo. We made it home. We left Anaheim on the early side (8am) due to the potential transmission issues and wanting to have daylight to take care of things if the van broke down along the way. Well, the van made it home with all of us, but it kept slipping out of gear as we (well, that is Ken) was driving. So good to be home. Now we need to figure out what to do with the van. I don't want to have to replace van, but on the other hand, a working transmission is important. Decisions, decisions.

We just finished up a family movie night- we ate burritos from La Costa and watched Prince Caspian. I thought the kids hadn't seen it, but it turns out they had. Fortunately, they were thrilled about being able to see it again. It was a great movie.

I read some more of What is the What. There are so many challenging things in this book- hard to believe this has happened/is happening as we speak. I like reading books that take me out of my comfort zone and expand my view of the world. It is so easy to get stuck in my life and the American way, but I don't want to get complacent in where I am. There is too much more to the world than what I see.

No new things to experiment with in terms of blogging. One of the things I have had floating in my mind regarding this is who is my audience and what should be the frequency. So, I guess the experiment will continue. I am liking it so far!

2008-12-05T21:05:00.001-08:00

Disneyland. It really is a special place. We spent yesterday and today at Disneyland and CA Adventure and had a great time. Maria and William took two classes in the mornings. On Thursday they took Physics: Energy and Waves and on Friday they took Disney Leadership in Action: Pursuit of Excellence. Ken, James and I rode some rides, wandered around, and even got James' picture taken with Santa. We also saw the turkey that President Bush pardoned. After the classes, Maria went off with some of her friends and William went with us. We did way too much to put down. But, we have confirmed the James' favorite attraction in the Tiki Room.

Now, off to bed to do some reading. I did not read anything yesterday...a strange event indeed.

Oh, and still trying to figure out this whole blogging thing...when to post, what to post, how to post effectively. And, I am experimenting with various things along the way. Today is hyperlinking.

The First Post- trial month beginning

2008-12-03T21:27:00.001-08:00

I have never blogged before and not sure if this is a wise thing for me to embark on. I am going to try some various things this month and then maybe settle into some sort of routine at the start of the year. Or, it all may just fizzle out and fade away to oblivion.

I am currently at Disneyland staying at the Park Vue Inn with my family. Baby James is snoozing away while the rest of us are on our laptops. We drove down today and the transmission on the van started acting up again. It will be interesting to see what happens on the way home. Nothing like intermittent car issues. We went into California Adventure for about 1 1/2 hours and then headed over to Disneyland for about an hour. A nice way to end the day.

I just started reading What is the What by Dave Eggers on the drive down and am enjoying it very much. The cover made me nervous....it looked like it might be a bit dull, dry, something to trudge through. But I was pleasantly surprised at the smoothness of the writing and how enjoyable of a read. Well, not enjoyable in the sense of making me feel good, but certainly a fascinating read. It is a novelized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, who is one of the Sudanese "Lost Boys" and it is an interesting glimpse into another world.