Spitz told me this story, because obviously, I wasn't there.
He took the two girls out to find Mother's Day presents for me. He likes to let them pick out something on their own - makes the presents much more meaningful (although sometimes it means... well... that it takes a mother to love them). Anyway, Becca apparently picked out a present very quickly, but they continued to shop because Diana still needed to choose. As they looked, Becca would periodically go over to Diana, place her arm around Diana's shoulders and say, "Now, Diana, you have to pick a really special present for Mommy because we have a really awesome mommy. And she deserves a very good present."
*cry* She is so sweet!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Update/Rambling
It has been a busy 2 weeks!
At playgroup on 5/4, I couldn't keep the new addition to the family secret from the other moms because Mindy saw me and immediately said, "So are you?" I had to hush her excitement at my response because Becca and Diana didn't know yet. Three days later at Bunco, Lesa asked me straight out, too. My friends are nosy!!! (-;
Friday we bought our new mini van, a 2007 Honda Odyssey EX-L. I love it! We were not really going for the new car, but looking for the Derby vans. Kristi told me about them at Bunco last week. Honda gives some minivans to the Derby Festival, and they are used for whatever for about a month. Then they go back to Honda with about 3,000 miles on them - for a bit of cleanup and sale to the public. Rumor is that you can get a pretty good deal on them. Well, the dealership we went to was pretty much asking the price of a new van. Pfft. Spitz basically said, "We'll pay you x and we want the 0% financing you are giving on new cars." They said, "Um, sorry, the good financing is only available on new cars... but we'll sell you a new one for that." So, surprise, I drove home a new van at about midnight (paperwork to buy a car takes FOREVER - because of the stupid waiting they make you do while they "check with their manager" on every point). Hmm. And we suspect we offered too much for the Derby Van with 3200 miles on it.
Saturday, Diana had a fabulous birthday and party. I ordered food from a restaurant and only had to make the cake. It was perfect weather for most people to sit outside the whole time. It was the most relaxed party I've ever given. A lot of fun. The hit presents were a remote-controlled car and a music box that plays music when she opens it. And she has a closet full of new very fancy dresses to strut around in! (Diana wears nothing else! She is a fashion plate.)
We announced my pregnancy at the party. We basically pulled the girls aside and told them. After a few seconds for it to sink in, they both went running back into the heart of the party and yelled, "Diana is going to be a big sister!!" It was really adorable. The only downside to this was my mother-in-law's comment, "I was right!" She manages to irritate me in every conceivable way, even when I'm really trying to not be in a bad mood towards her. *sigh*
(So, now the only secret is on WoW because Spitz wants to announce it at our next guild meeting.)
On a final note, the timing has proved perfect because my brother and his wife (who are moving back to Columbus after his graduation this week, need an additional family-friendly car, and hope to start a family soon) want to buy my Toyota Avalon. We didn't use it as a trade-in because we don't have the paperwork yet to have a free-and-clear title. But this works out nicely, except for the fact that it is really better to not do business with family. Really.
And today, the morning sickness has arrived. )-:
At playgroup on 5/4, I couldn't keep the new addition to the family secret from the other moms because Mindy saw me and immediately said, "So are you?" I had to hush her excitement at my response because Becca and Diana didn't know yet. Three days later at Bunco, Lesa asked me straight out, too. My friends are nosy!!! (-;
Friday we bought our new mini van, a 2007 Honda Odyssey EX-L. I love it! We were not really going for the new car, but looking for the Derby vans. Kristi told me about them at Bunco last week. Honda gives some minivans to the Derby Festival, and they are used for whatever for about a month. Then they go back to Honda with about 3,000 miles on them - for a bit of cleanup and sale to the public. Rumor is that you can get a pretty good deal on them. Well, the dealership we went to was pretty much asking the price of a new van. Pfft. Spitz basically said, "We'll pay you x and we want the 0% financing you are giving on new cars." They said, "Um, sorry, the good financing is only available on new cars... but we'll sell you a new one for that." So, surprise, I drove home a new van at about midnight (paperwork to buy a car takes FOREVER - because of the stupid waiting they make you do while they "check with their manager" on every point). Hmm. And we suspect we offered too much for the Derby Van with 3200 miles on it.
Saturday, Diana had a fabulous birthday and party. I ordered food from a restaurant and only had to make the cake. It was perfect weather for most people to sit outside the whole time. It was the most relaxed party I've ever given. A lot of fun. The hit presents were a remote-controlled car and a music box that plays music when she opens it. And she has a closet full of new very fancy dresses to strut around in! (Diana wears nothing else! She is a fashion plate.)
We announced my pregnancy at the party. We basically pulled the girls aside and told them. After a few seconds for it to sink in, they both went running back into the heart of the party and yelled, "Diana is going to be a big sister!!" It was really adorable. The only downside to this was my mother-in-law's comment, "I was right!" She manages to irritate me in every conceivable way, even when I'm really trying to not be in a bad mood towards her. *sigh*
(So, now the only secret is on WoW because Spitz wants to announce it at our next guild meeting.)
On a final note, the timing has proved perfect because my brother and his wife (who are moving back to Columbus after his graduation this week, need an additional family-friendly car, and hope to start a family soon) want to buy my Toyota Avalon. We didn't use it as a trade-in because we don't have the paperwork yet to have a free-and-clear title. But this works out nicely, except for the fact that it is really better to not do business with family. Really.
And today, the morning sickness has arrived. )-:
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Flatten Chicken Breasts to 1/4" Thickness
I've read this in a recipe repeatedly when scanning cookbooks in the past, but I've never made a recipe that called for it. Ok. So.
Messy, nasty, more challenging than you'd expect. And it actually turns my stomach a bit to think of what taking a heavy, marble rolling pin to (what was) living, breathing flesh looks like.
So, I've declared my pounding step complete, but they surely aren't 1/4 inch thick. I think if I really got them that thin, they wouldn't be in one piece anymore. Actually, they are only sort of in one piece now. Hmm. I hope that once I roll them up around butter/parsley/chives and then dip and bread them, they will be more appetizing. I'm sure they will be to anyone who hasn't seen the current status.
Messy, nasty, more challenging than you'd expect. And it actually turns my stomach a bit to think of what taking a heavy, marble rolling pin to (what was) living, breathing flesh looks like.
So, I've declared my pounding step complete, but they surely aren't 1/4 inch thick. I think if I really got them that thin, they wouldn't be in one piece anymore. Actually, they are only sort of in one piece now. Hmm. I hope that once I roll them up around butter/parsley/chives and then dip and bread them, they will be more appetizing. I'm sure they will be to anyone who hasn't seen the current status.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The Waiting
So, has it happened?
*shrug* I can't tell you. I don't know myself.
Do I think it has?
I hope so. The waiting is killing me. Usually I've tested by now, but Spitz wants me to wait this time.
Time to test yet?
Well, the box says so, but to keep marital harmony, I'll wait a few more days.
The waiting is killing me.
*shrug* I can't tell you. I don't know myself.
Do I think it has?
I hope so. The waiting is killing me. Usually I've tested by now, but Spitz wants me to wait this time.
Time to test yet?
Well, the box says so, but to keep marital harmony, I'll wait a few more days.
The waiting is killing me.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Kid Tidbits
I got two chuckles from my daughters today.
First - At dinner both girls clamored to be able to be the one to say the prayer before the meal. Diana 2.12 (almost to her birthday now) was given permission to start it off. Her prayer was as follows: "Dear God, Thank you for today. Thank you for Daddy and Mommy getting married. Amen." [Frequently it is obvious what in the child's life has prompted a prayer or unusual comment. This one was out of left field. ???]
Second - Becca and the rest of her school were treated to a magic show today. The father of one of her classmates is a professional magician. She was full of stories of it when she got home. Her favorite trick from the whole show was when he had a flower and tried to smell it, but each time he put it to his nose, it bent over, keeping him from actually smelling it. I've seen this joke and recognized it from her description. But the funny part is how she described it. "Every time he tried to smell it, it stuck it's butt in his face!" LOL
First - At dinner both girls clamored to be able to be the one to say the prayer before the meal. Diana 2.12 (almost to her birthday now) was given permission to start it off. Her prayer was as follows: "Dear God, Thank you for today. Thank you for Daddy and Mommy getting married. Amen." [Frequently it is obvious what in the child's life has prompted a prayer or unusual comment. This one was out of left field. ???]
Second - Becca and the rest of her school were treated to a magic show today. The father of one of her classmates is a professional magician. She was full of stories of it when she got home. Her favorite trick from the whole show was when he had a flower and tried to smell it, but each time he put it to his nose, it bent over, keeping him from actually smelling it. I've seen this joke and recognized it from her description. But the funny part is how she described it. "Every time he tried to smell it, it stuck it's butt in his face!" LOL
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
You Learn Something New Every Day
So, the new thing I learned yesterday was that tree roots continue to grow for about 7 years after the tree itself has been cut down. Who knew?
I learned this from the plumber who had just spent 3 1/2 hours running 144 feet of snake down the main drain in our basement (which had begun backing up nasty smelling water). He brought out a TON of tree roots and miscellaneous gunk.
I learned this from the plumber who had just spent 3 1/2 hours running 144 feet of snake down the main drain in our basement (which had begun backing up nasty smelling water). He brought out a TON of tree roots and miscellaneous gunk.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Adoption
When you hear about a family adopting a child internationally, does it pull at you? Do you get misty-eyed and think about what it would be like to try to integrate a toddler (since usually it takes so long, they are no longer babies) into your life that you didn't meet as a newborn? A toddler who likely does not understand English at all. Do you think about the love they've been missing in an orphanage somewhere or maybe the food or clothing they've done without? Do you feel like someday, you should do that, too?
Am I the only one who feels a pull every time I hear of an adoption seminar or meets a family at church with a child from an obviously different heritage? All my life, stories of international adoptions have ... how to describe it?... reached me. Really tugged at me, brought out emotion and avid interest. Drawn my thoughts over and over again. Some days I would even say that I feel God's calling to reach out to some child on the other side of the world that doesn't get a hug each day or who goes to bed cold. I can't stop the feeling that I'm supposed to do that.
We have the resources, at least financially. International adoptions are incredibly expensive. I've heard that before, but it is really hitting home as I've recently started reading the blog of a family working to complete their 3rd international adoption. A family barely out of debt from the first 2 adoptions and trying to reach a third child on a shoestring budget. Wow does the process sound complicated, expensive and exhausting. Yet, I read on because I feel like I might need to know this stuff.
Do we have the resources physically and emotionally? Hmmm. I've never been one to enjoy taking care of lots of kids. I'm an accountant, for goodness sake. I like order and numbers on paper. Patience is my biggest struggle with my girls. But I love them. So much. And maybe that's more important.
My husband doesn't share the urgency I feel when I bring up this urge to look into adoption. We have 2 beautiful little girls and might soon be expecting another if things work out right. Way back when we first discussed "kids or no kids?" before we were even married, he was not in favor of having many because of the world population explosion. He is very concerned with recycling and being wise in our use of resources and didn't want to add to the burden humans place on earth. At that time, there was a brief discussion of adopting, but only in the context of "let's only have 2 naturally and if we want more, we could adopt." But now? Now he's a physician and is concerned that we'd never know the child's medical background or the illnesses that babe would already have. And he just does the "Yes, dear" thing if I bring it up.
There's a couple in our Sunday School class who've known forever that they are meant to adopt. They are saving up for it. They have 3 of their own already, but they know that God has a sister-brother pair of children somewhere in the world in mind for them and they are saving until some point they will start the process. Sometimes I wonder, is what I feel, the pull, the calling, is it what they feel?
Is there a little boy or girl, maybe not even born yet, destined to be part of my family? Does he or she need me? Need us? It haunts me.
Am I the only one who feels a pull every time I hear of an adoption seminar or meets a family at church with a child from an obviously different heritage? All my life, stories of international adoptions have ... how to describe it?... reached me. Really tugged at me, brought out emotion and avid interest. Drawn my thoughts over and over again. Some days I would even say that I feel God's calling to reach out to some child on the other side of the world that doesn't get a hug each day or who goes to bed cold. I can't stop the feeling that I'm supposed to do that.
We have the resources, at least financially. International adoptions are incredibly expensive. I've heard that before, but it is really hitting home as I've recently started reading the blog of a family working to complete their 3rd international adoption. A family barely out of debt from the first 2 adoptions and trying to reach a third child on a shoestring budget. Wow does the process sound complicated, expensive and exhausting. Yet, I read on because I feel like I might need to know this stuff.
Do we have the resources physically and emotionally? Hmmm. I've never been one to enjoy taking care of lots of kids. I'm an accountant, for goodness sake. I like order and numbers on paper. Patience is my biggest struggle with my girls. But I love them. So much. And maybe that's more important.
My husband doesn't share the urgency I feel when I bring up this urge to look into adoption. We have 2 beautiful little girls and might soon be expecting another if things work out right. Way back when we first discussed "kids or no kids?" before we were even married, he was not in favor of having many because of the world population explosion. He is very concerned with recycling and being wise in our use of resources and didn't want to add to the burden humans place on earth. At that time, there was a brief discussion of adopting, but only in the context of "let's only have 2 naturally and if we want more, we could adopt." But now? Now he's a physician and is concerned that we'd never know the child's medical background or the illnesses that babe would already have. And he just does the "Yes, dear" thing if I bring it up.
There's a couple in our Sunday School class who've known forever that they are meant to adopt. They are saving up for it. They have 3 of their own already, but they know that God has a sister-brother pair of children somewhere in the world in mind for them and they are saving until some point they will start the process. Sometimes I wonder, is what I feel, the pull, the calling, is it what they feel?
Is there a little boy or girl, maybe not even born yet, destined to be part of my family? Does he or she need me? Need us? It haunts me.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Friday, April 06, 2007
Today's Parent Giggle
Diana 2.10 has never been a "terrible two." Her sister never was either. In our family, they hit "terrible three." Then, the stubbornness comes out. The self-assertion, I should say I guess.
Today, she was playing with a toy horse, giving it a very involved bath when up rides Rebecca 5.7 on a big wheel that makes police siren noises. (We are at grandma's, so the toys are all new and exciting since we only come about once per month.) Diana immediately demanded to ride the big wheel. Fortunately, at the same exact instant, Becca decided that she wanted the toy horse. It was a surprisingly amicable exchange, with both about to erupt in demands that were defused.
Anyway, Diana marched rapidly to the big wheel (all prepared to force her sister out), Becca hopped up, and with some built-up momentum Diana flung over a leg to take over the big wheel controls. She promptly missed the seat with her rear end and sat down HARD on the ground next to it. And very definitively announced, "Well. I meant to do that!"
And I fought the hardest battle there exists in parenting: keeping the straight face.
Today, she was playing with a toy horse, giving it a very involved bath when up rides Rebecca 5.7 on a big wheel that makes police siren noises. (We are at grandma's, so the toys are all new and exciting since we only come about once per month.) Diana immediately demanded to ride the big wheel. Fortunately, at the same exact instant, Becca decided that she wanted the toy horse. It was a surprisingly amicable exchange, with both about to erupt in demands that were defused.
Anyway, Diana marched rapidly to the big wheel (all prepared to force her sister out), Becca hopped up, and with some built-up momentum Diana flung over a leg to take over the big wheel controls. She promptly missed the seat with her rear end and sat down HARD on the ground next to it. And very definitively announced, "Well. I meant to do that!"
And I fought the hardest battle there exists in parenting: keeping the straight face.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Success!
So, the absolute measure of success is having people ask you for the recipe after they've just eaten a meal you prepared. About 3 ladies wanted the recipes for Fluffy Fruit Salad and Chicken Broccoli Braid. (Of course, it tells me something about the other things I made. hmm) Anyway, peer pressure (I assume) and the easy availability of the recipes (I have my recipes in Word so I could just print them out) made everyone leave with copies.
Now, the downside of the night was the poor showing of the Ohio State Buckeyes against Florida in the final game of the NCAA tournament immediately following Bunco. *insert worst stinky face ever*
Now, the downside of the night was the poor showing of the Ohio State Buckeyes against Florida in the final game of the NCAA tournament immediately following Bunco. *insert worst stinky face ever*
Sunday, April 01, 2007
My Turn to Host
Bunco is at my house tomorrow night. It's my turn to stress over what to serve for dinner and to attempt to make my house look as if someone actually designed the layout of furniture and as if no kids live here. (-:
So, my menu is going to be Chicken Broccoli Braid (large square of dough with a chicken, broccoli, cheese, bell pepper, mayonnaise, garlic mixture in the middle and strips of the dough pulled up and sort of braided on top making a sort of meat-stuffed pastry with almond slivers on top), Baked Beans, Fluffy Fruit Salad (fruit cocktail, pineapple, nuts, marshmallows in a pudding and cool whip sauce) and Strawberry Shortcake. It sounds really yummy to me. Whatcha think? Anyway, one of the hard parts of cooking for Bunco are the limits determined by the other Bunco players. One woman is very anti-onion, and there are some other little quirks you have to follow when preparing a Bunco meal. The bonus of cooking for Bunco is that I can cook the Chicken Broccoli Braid; my husband does not care for it because he one time ate it just before getting sick and threw it up repeatedly. Understandably, that turned him off the meal, so I can only make it VERY RARELY or when he's going to be gone for a board meeting or something.
On to the house. For days, I've been reorganizing the first floor of the house. Not cleaning. I'll do that last minute tomorrow, and it won't need to be super-thorough. Just sweeping and cleaning the downstairs bathroom. But the reorganizing to get rid of the stacks of unresolved mail, coupons, ads, etc. that insist on building up on surfaces in the kitchen. Reorganizing to find homes for all the DVDs and CDs purchased over the last few months that are all stacked randomly around the entertainment center. I'll deal with the toys set for weeks on the window seat so that it looks like we actually planned their storage place. Those are the types of cleaning I have to attack this weekend before Bunco so that my house is presentable.
Every once in a while it is good to host a party at your home just to kick yourself in the butt and throw out the papers you really don't need, select toys to put into storage for the next child, box up the old videos no one watches to give to the church yard sale.
So, my menu is going to be Chicken Broccoli Braid (large square of dough with a chicken, broccoli, cheese, bell pepper, mayonnaise, garlic mixture in the middle and strips of the dough pulled up and sort of braided on top making a sort of meat-stuffed pastry with almond slivers on top), Baked Beans, Fluffy Fruit Salad (fruit cocktail, pineapple, nuts, marshmallows in a pudding and cool whip sauce) and Strawberry Shortcake. It sounds really yummy to me. Whatcha think? Anyway, one of the hard parts of cooking for Bunco are the limits determined by the other Bunco players. One woman is very anti-onion, and there are some other little quirks you have to follow when preparing a Bunco meal. The bonus of cooking for Bunco is that I can cook the Chicken Broccoli Braid; my husband does not care for it because he one time ate it just before getting sick and threw it up repeatedly. Understandably, that turned him off the meal, so I can only make it VERY RARELY or when he's going to be gone for a board meeting or something.
On to the house. For days, I've been reorganizing the first floor of the house. Not cleaning. I'll do that last minute tomorrow, and it won't need to be super-thorough. Just sweeping and cleaning the downstairs bathroom. But the reorganizing to get rid of the stacks of unresolved mail, coupons, ads, etc. that insist on building up on surfaces in the kitchen. Reorganizing to find homes for all the DVDs and CDs purchased over the last few months that are all stacked randomly around the entertainment center. I'll deal with the toys set for weeks on the window seat so that it looks like we actually planned their storage place. Those are the types of cleaning I have to attack this weekend before Bunco so that my house is presentable.
Every once in a while it is good to host a party at your home just to kick yourself in the butt and throw out the papers you really don't need, select toys to put into storage for the next child, box up the old videos no one watches to give to the church yard sale.
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