W.O.W.

I might have to be the worst blogger on the face of the planet. sheesh. So as you know it's been a while! So much has happened since my last blog post, there is so much to update. I think I will just use up this blog space for just that purpose.

For one I am an official stay at home mom now! yahoo!!!! The one thing I have wanted to be for my entire life and here I am, 3.5 years after becoming a mom and I am finally living it! I am over the moon happy I can't even tell you. I have only been "home" a couple of weeks now but the family time is so wonderful. I love that when Chenda asks me "mommy you work today?" I can tell her "no mommy doesn't need to work anymore I get to play with you!" It makes her (and myself) so happy.


Miss Chenda is growing into quite the spunky little girl. She is stubborn beyond belief and so so loving. I can't imagine a more perfect oldest daughter. It's fun to watch her express herself in different ways now that she is older and understands the meaning of things better. She will run up and give me the biggest hug and just shout "I love you Mommy!" and then give a kiss attack (something I've done to her since she was a baby". She has also grown into quite the little mommy herself. She loves to put her dolls to bed and sing them lullabies she makes up for them. Here are a couple"Go asleeeeep, go asleeeeep, go asleeeeeeeeeeep sllleeeeeeppp", and my personal favorite (to be sung in the tune of Barney's I love you song) "This old man...E,I,O...He played Nick Nack on my toooeeeee". I think that one is supposed to be a combination of "this old man" and "old Macdonald". She's got quite the imagination.:



Miss Kali is growing herself into such a big girl! She's definitely not my little baby anymore, although to me she always will be. She can already count up to 3 by herself and to 10 with help. She says a few words, mostly "hello", "shoes", "stuck" and "more". It's an interesting combination of words but she knows when to use them haha. A typical girl, she LOVES to get dressed in frilly things and strut around the house, and she loves to sing and dance. She can hum the tune to just about any song on the radio and sings along to all her Disney movies.

She is also my little sensitive one. I can tell that as far as discipline goes, I'm going to have to come up with much simpler tactics for her. With Chenda, you need a stern voice and time outs...With Kali just saying "no" to her will set her crying like she just took a swift beating, so redirection and a gentle voice is all you need to get her to listen to you. This is something I am learning and I'm sure when the next one comes I will have to implement even more different tactics (no there isn't another on the way any time soon).

Alright it's late and that's all I can muster from these tired fingers for now. I promise if anyone reads this at all I will update regularly from now on! Good night!

Something to sleep on....

Just before I go to bed tonight, I want to share a story I saw right as I was about to close my internet and hit the sack....



From The Star Thrower by anthropologist and writer, Loren Eiseley (1907-1977)
Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out, "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they will die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

Who will you make a difference for today?

Just a reminder....

Song for a Fifth Child
By Ruth Hulburt Hamilton



Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Recipe Thursday - Fried Zucchini!!

Did I even spell that right?! Oh well! This is a GREAT recipe for delicious fried zucchini (again, spelling?). The batter for this actually makes wonderful onion rings too, if you aren't in the mood for green stuff.

Here's what you need!

Wet stuff:
2 cups buttermilk
2 tbsp of your favorite hot sauce (or 1 tbsp if you want a little less kick)
2tsp sugar
2tsp Cajun seasoning, or seasoning salt is good too!

Mix all that together and set aside

Dry Stuff:
2cups flour
3-4tsp baking powder
2 tsp pepper
1/2tsp cayenne powder (you can leave this out if you want)
2tsp salt

Mix all together and set aside.

Fill your deep fryer with veggie oil till the stop line. If you don't have a deep fryer you need 3-4 inches of veggie oil and heat it too 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Don't use a small pot and fill it, oil expands as it heat up so use a good size pot. A deep fryer is easiest though.

Cut up 4-5 zucchini's into spears. I usually half them the fat way then cut that into quarters the long way. So you get about 8 spears out of each one.

Dip them in the wet, then the dry. At this point you can double dip back into the wet, then dry again, or you can put them in the fryer. (I find that single dipping makes more of a tempura-like batter and double dipping is a thicker batter once cooked)

Let 'em fry till they are golden brown and scoop out with a strainer or metal slotted spoon and lay onto a paper plate lined with a paper towel.

DONE! Aren't they yummy???
I like to dip with ranch dressing.

Presents Everywhere!

Wow! What a whirlwind November was! Not that December is any better, but November is always a busy month for our family. Birthdays galore!


We made it through the kids' birthdays pretty much unscathed, and it was a lot of fun (although stressful planning between work and everyone else's birthdays on top of it). We had a big family and friends get together and got both of them done at once; One great thing about them being born so close in the same month (another being I haven't had to spend a dime on new clothes for Kali). Woohoo!

They got some great gifts and everyone was so generous! Fun moves, books, new shoes and clothes (for chenda, she needed that!), and toys toys toys! My mom, uncle and Aunt made cupcakes for me that I was able to decorate, and my in-laws made some wonderful food for everyone. It was delicious! All in all a great time for everyone.


Now with Christmas coming up it's time to start thinking about presents again!

*AHH!*

Just when you think you are done Christmas sneaks up on you doesn't it? (just one of the DOWNsides of having so many birthdays right before the holidays!) By the way, Chan and I went to Toys-R-Us for their 12am "Black Friday" sale, and let me say I will NEVER do that again. Not fun. However, we were able to get this great play kitchen for Chenda for about $40 that's usually $100 and to see the look on her face will make the 2 hours of standing in the blistering cold with no coat (yah I'm the idiot who forgot my coat) worth every minute. The things we do for our children are just rediculous aren't they!?

It looks like I'm being summoned to watch the closing scene of Tinkerbell with Chenda (it's her favorite part). 'Till next time!.....

Wordless Wednesday 11/10

In honor of Baby Sister's 1st birthday coming up this weekend, here is a picture to commemorate (with more coming on her actual birthday, of course!)


Our first time making eye contact

A conversation with Chenda....

Baby sister is very sick with a high fever the last couple days. Chenda noticed that this morning when we woke up and she came to lay in bed with us for a few minutes...This short conversation cracked me up.


Chenda: *feels baby's forehead" uh-oh! Baby hop (hot)!
me: I know baby is sick so her head is hot
Chenda: ohhh. I blow on it! *blows on her head like it's a hot bowl of soup*

hahah So sweet trying to break a fever by blowing. Well, it works for food doesn't it?!?!?