Sugar Cookies!!

We made sugar cookies on Monday at Maga's house...They turned out "beautiful" (in the eyes of the Beholder and all that...) Anyways, the girls had a blast and that is all that matters.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of Emeril...YUM!

2 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

16 tbs butter

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon zest

1 egg

Sift Flour and salt and set aside

Cream butter and sugar on med/high until light in color and fluffy

Add vanilla, lemon and egg

Beat 1-2 min. longer on low

gradually add flour mix

divide in 2, frigerate for at least 2 hours.

bake on 350 til light brown around edges

The Eve of Christmas Eve

What a crazy week! It all boils down to tonight...I like to have everything done by tonight so that I can enjoy Christmas Eve and Day. I don't think it's going to happen this year. Oh, I'll still enjoy it, just be a little more rushed than normal. We've been working all week, getting our fall cleaning finished and doing all the final decorating, on top of the usual laundry, dishes, laundry, toy collecting and sorting, and corraling of Our Fairy. I haven't even done the baking I really wanted to do; maybe we'll do it tomorrow. I also have to finish wrapping presents. We went up to the hospital today; they admitted my dad this morning after he went in for an MRI and ABI and almost passed out from low blood sugar(he's diabetic). His blood sugar has been at both extremes all day and they are keeping him overnight(hopefully not any longer) to monitor everything. This time last year he was in the hospital with a quad. bi-pass and so I know my sister and brother are feeling a little dejà vu (we were in El Salvador last Christmas, so this is all new to me). Anyways, this was my little minute of me-time...now back to cleaning, etc.

Christmas Cards...yay....

Got my Christmas cards done! Finally decided to just do pictures in front of our tree...It was hard to do without Oliver, he's my poser ;o) He gets them all in position and smiling so I can take the picture, but I had to do it all on my own tonight...just glad I was able to get them all to look at the camera and not cry, grimace, blink, suck various fingers or clothes...

Cereal Time!

Our Oso started eating cereal now... we started cause the doctor said we could...he's not really too interested in it...but he has been eyeballing us while we've been eating with that look on his face that says, "Where's mine?" So we figured we'd give it a try...

8 years and counting

Eight years ago today I was busy getting ready to marry the man of my dreams. Oliver fit the bill to a T: He was taller(by about 1/4 inch, but who's counting?), dark and handsome. He loved God, worked hard(had some mad muscles!), and loved his family; what more could a girl want?


He asked me to marry him in front of my whole family on April 27, 2001, which I know was difficult for him(his english was not nearly what it is now). Of course I said yes, how could I not?


My mom, sisters and I went the next weekend to Atlanta to look for my dress(I know, but I was excited!!)


Much happened that year between April and December...He moved out to Bonneau Beach(which is an hour away), but I saw him most weekends. We did our marriage counseling one straight week in July (THAT was interesting). September 11 happened. I finished another semester of school. We found an apartment nearby a week before the wedding. I couldn't wait to be with him. I had just finished exams the week of the wedding. My father was not a happy camper that we were getting married before I graduated, but I only had two semesters to go and I promised to finish. Both my parents jumped right in and helped make our Wedding Day memorable.


I often wondered what drew him to me; why he would be willing to be with me forever. But I am so glad he did. I truly made the best decision to marry him. There have been low points over the years, especially those first five as we struggled through the selfish tendancies and really got to know and love one another...but I can say the last three years we have been more content. Oliver is still all of those things he was on our wedding day(well, the muscles are hibernating...) and I look forward to many, many more years together!

The Truth About Christmas!

Our Princess and I had a deep discussion about Christmas, Santa and Jesus Monday as we put the last of the ornaments on the tree. We've never said that her Christmas presents come from Santa. As a matter of fact, we've always told her they come from Maga and Papa, even though they only say XOXO...but somehow she has gotten the idea of Santa Claus, from friends, I suppose. We've just never addressed it, I suppose thinking that if we never said anything, she would never ask? Naive I know. We just didn't want to make it official, you know? We didn't want her to be the brat at school who blurts out that there was no Santa Claus. We also didn't want her to believe in Santa Claus only to realize when she was older that we had lied to her. We want Christmas to be about Jesus, which we do push strongly at home.
So I sat down with her while we put up the Nativity under the tree. I told her about St. Nicholas, who was a man who loved Jesus so much that he spent his life doing good works. St. Nicholas loved children and often gave them gifts. He also helped the poor by leaving anonymous gifts(some new vocab for Our Princess) and often helped his neighbors in need. I explained that he did this to celebrate Jesus and his birth, not to celebrate himself. So he wouldn't want us to make Christmas about him, but about Jesus. Then we talked about why Jesus was born and why he was special. I told her about the story of Jesus' birth and Mary and Joseph and the angels coming to sing to the shepherds and the visit from the Magi...
Afterward we went through her toys and bagged up some that she doesn't often play with that are still good and took them up to the ministry center to be handed out when children come in. She was pretty good about giving them away; Our Fairy was a little (ok, a lot) hesitant, but she's still three... And when we went last night to work at the Ministry Center and she was able to hand one of her dolls to a little girl who had the biggest smile on her face, I think she realized the joy of sharing. Again, Our Fairy just didn't handle it well...we'll work on that.
I'm not sure how much she retained, but the explanation seemed to satisfy her enough. I did explain that it wasn't our place to tell other children about Santa, that we had to leave that up to other mommys and daddys...we'll see if it works.

Our Fairy

Our Fairy says the funniest things...and I believe that the funniest part is that to her, it all makes sense...Wednesday, she was singing "Jack and Jill went up a hill..." When she got to the part where Jack falls down, according to her, he broke his "king's hat."

Thursday morning we were leaving for Church and there was half a dead squirrel on our porch (bless our beloved puss). Our Fairy said, "Gato broke it." That's putting it mildly!

This evening, we were leaving work and she asked Aunt Laura where her daddy was. Aunt Laura said with Maga...Papa was her daddy. Our Fairy tells her, "No, Papa is Maga's daddy."
Well, since I refer to Oliver in front of the girls as "Daddy," she associates this with "husband." She wanted to know where Aunt Laura's husband was...Aunt Laura is not married (yet).

It's just interesting the things that she comes up with; she has a way of looking at her world that makes you stop and think about how things are related and what words really mean.

She's very literal. Our Princess I can tell to go put the clothes in the trash(as I have done before) meaning the laundry and she understands that I meant laundry(I know, scary). Our Fairy doesn't. She puts it into the trash, or fridge, or whatever word I get mixed up with...I often wonder if it's because we use more spanish with her than we did with her older sister, so she has to concentrate harder on what things mean, so it's easier to take everything literally.

Corn Casserole ála Maga

This we've made EVERY year since I was little...LOVE IT!

Swiss cheese Casserole

3-4 canned or frozen corn (drained)
1lb swiss cheese grated
sm onion chopped
Lg can evaporated milk plus 2 eggs mixed in
(Half recipe for smaller group)

MIX all together reserving some cheese for top
Sprinkle some crushed ritz type cracker over top
Bake 350 for 40 mins...sprinkle with some cheese while still warm'

All I'm gonna say is OH MY...

Corn Casserole á la Paula Deen

We've made this the last two years for Thanksgiving and it's fast become a favorite!



Ingredients:
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8-ounce) package corn muffin mix (recommended: Jiffy)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with Cheddar. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.
YUMMY!

Thanksgiving According to Our Princess

"The pilgrims came, maybe when Maga was little, I think. They came in a boat called the Mayflower and they drove, I mean boat...sailed! for a long time until they got here. They walked into the forest and they had to walk and walk and they saw a indian and they went too far and made camp and they had to eat that corn, you know that's too hard, it would break your teeth and they had to punch it with a stone to eat it. They went to sleep and in the morning the pilgrims got closer to the indians and they saw a indian named....I don't remember right now. The indian showed the pilgrims how to get the house and then the mother pilgrim and the kids stayed on the boat and some died while the Captain built the house and it was too cold and they got sicker and sicker and then they came off the boat and said, 'Thank you, Captain...' "

To be continued...(she said she needed to go to school to remember the rest...so we'll see tomorrow night!)


"That evening they had a feast. A feast is a kind of eat-together. They had Turkey and french fries. They were thankful for God and it was a good holiday."
That was it...Not sure why she needed to go to school to remember that and I cannot remember us EVER having french fries at a thanksgiving meal, but, hey, it's cute!

Citrus Rosemary Turkey

Ok, I made this Turkey the year Our Princess was born...it was my first time making a turkey...we were going to the church that evening and I was asked to make a turkey and I had no clue how to cook one...so I looked it up on Foodnetwork.com and Michael Chiarello gave me a hand ...and this is the recipe I have used every year since! I love it! It's too moist!

Ingredients
Citrus Rosemary Salt
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 cup coarse salt

Roasted Turkeys
2 (8 to 10-pound) whole turkeys (ok, so I use one big one)
2 small whole onions, peeled
2 carrots, cut in half
2 celery stalks, cut in half
1 quart chicken stock or broth
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
8 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 lemons, halved
4 large carrots, halved lengthwise
8 celery stalks
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Turkey Gravy
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
For the Citrus Rosemary Salt: In food processor, process all the ingredients. Pulse until well blended. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
For the Roasted Turkeys: Remove necks and giblets and put into a large saucepan. Add 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks and chicken stock. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat and let simmer until reduced to about 2 cups. Strain and reserve; this is the turkey stock that you will use for the gravy.
Wash the turkeys, inside and out, and dry well. Coat each turkey, inside and out, with 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Season each turkey on the outside with a tablespoon or two of the Citrus Rosemary Salt, pressing it in to adhere. Place 4 rosemary sprigs and 2 lemon halves inside the cavity of each turkey.
Arrange 4 of the halved carrots and 4 celery stalks on each of 2 half-sheet pans (use baking sheets with a lip). It's better than a wire rack. Position each turkey on top of the carrots and celery so that the turkey does not rest directly on the bottom of the pan. Drizzle turkeys with remaining olive oil. Now, my mother has always told us to cook the turkey breast-down for the first couple of hours and then the last hour to turn it over so that it gets golden, but doesn't dry out...I do that and it's worked for me so far!
Roast until an instant-read thermometer (inserted deep into the thigh but away from the bone) reads 165 degrees F and juices in the thigh run clear when pierced with a fork, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours; begin checking at 2 hours. Remove from the pans and let rest for 15 minutes before carving. Reserve pan juices for gravy.
While turkeys are resting, make the gravy. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Whisk over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until a smooth, blond-colored mixture is formed. Add the reserved turkey stock and pan juices and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and let simmer until thickened and ready to serve. Season, to taste.
Carve turkey and serve with gravy.

Night Owls

Oliver and I have been waiting since last December for New Moon to come out in theaters. It was well worth the wait. I read the Novels all within one week last November (I've since read them four more times)when one of my students was reading Twilight in class(within the next week, half the female pop. at school was reading it), then saw Twilight that Friday. I was kind of disappointed in it. The cast was great,but they had changed too much of the plot. So I waited with trepidation over the next installment, even though the Powers That Be hired a new producer.
I bought my tickets (2--Oliver went with me; he read them as well and enjoyed them very much! Not too many women can say that about their other half! As a matter of fact, you could kind of tell who was there just to placate their wife/girlfriend; they had no clue). My friend Kim also went with us, as her boyfriend wasn't so thrilled and had to work. We squealed like the little girls that, surprisingly, didn't show up at 12:10 in the morning. I guess because it was a school night. Kim and I got there at 10:30 to make sure that we had good seats and there were about 20 other people in the theater. I saw three of my former students, now college freshmen. Oliver showed up, all the while rolling his eyes that we were so excited!
It was wonderful. They didn't cut so much out and only had one or two cheesy add-ins that made you think, now what was the purpose of putting that in there? There were only a couple little things they cut out...The ending they had to squish all into one, rather than drag it out as the book did(which I preferred, but understood). It was still so good! As Oliver said, "if they put the whole book into the movie, it would be like 5 hours long!" I have yet to meet someone who read the book that would mind sitting through a 5-hour movie...I know I wouldn't! And the cinematography was so much better! There was more color, it didn't look like the doom and gloom flick the first one did! The CGI animation was fantastic! They really didn't look fake! I could go on and on about it, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone!

Snaggle-tooth

Our Princess lost her first tooth on Monday. (She's missing three, but the other two were pulled by the dentist, so they weren't lost) It happened at school during lunch. I had told her she needed to get them pulled at school so she could get the cool tooth necklace the office would give her(I don't do wiggly teeth...yuck!). Otherwise, her daddy would pull it out when she got home. I sent an apple for lunch, but she has already learned to eat with her incisors, so I wasn't sure that would work. I visited her at lunch and noticed that the tooth was hanging on for dear life. You could actually see the root.

"Just let me grab a napkin and yank it, please?" I begged.

"mm--mm," She wouldn't even open her mouth. So I told her again that her daddy would pull it when we got home and went on to my next class.

About twenty minutes later I heard about some child that screamed at the top of her lungs in the cafeteria, so loud the teachers left the teacher's lounge to find out what was going on! Had to be Our Princess. I figured that she had finally gotten a good bite of that apple. When I went to pick her up later, they told me that her classmate had pulled it out. In her words,

"I tell him to pull it out and he put his finger and punched it and I was mad at him 'cause I didn't know he was gonna pull it out that hard and I'm gonna be mad at him forever."

(We'll talk about forgiveness another day...she's forgiven him from what I can tell, but she has yet to thank him)

So She got her necklace and brought it home...Unfortunately, the Tooth Fairy had a hard time finding the necklace...so then next morning we put it on the counter and El Ratón snatched it and left a dollar. (we kind of mix our cultures in certain things...I was not going to have a bunch of teeth on my roof!)

So anyways, one tooth down, the one next to it is loose now...

Nicaragua 2009

The stories Oliver brings would break your heart. He told me that he has never before seen poverty such as he saw this week. It wasn't just they had less than we are accustomed to, it was true poverty! In El Salvador, even the poor are able to plant a little something in their yard or have a chicken to get eggs from. Here they had NOTHING. It was heart-wrenching and brought me to tears just hearing about the situations he encountered face-to-face.


They worked with 4 churches and 2 orphanages that are supported by Niños Escogidos (Chosen Children) outside of Managua, Nicaragua. One pastor tells how he and his pregnant wife were beat up for his monthly salary ($100). When given a large bag of beans and rice because they had no money to buy it for that month, the pastor divided it among his congregation, saying he couldn't eat well knowing that his congregation were starving.


Another pastor is ridiculed by the neighborhood he serves in. He moved from a cinder-block home that he, his wife and 4 children shared with another family, to a home next-door to the church within the neighborhood to better serve his congregation and reach out. On Wednesday, Oliver's group built his home. It is approx. 12x12, made of 4x4s and 2x4s and plastic with a corrugated roof. They offered to build him something better, but he did not want to put on airs in his neighborhood, as everyone has homes like this. There is much envy within these small communities. I remember my concern upon hearing about hurricane Ida, even though it was off the east coast and not near them. I couldn't imagine being in this home during a downpour, let alone a hurricane. It truly is no wonder they are willing to crowd into a trailer here in the States to save money. The picture above is from the "pulpit" of the church. Its finished except for a door.


When they asked another pastor how they could serve him, he asked not for himself, even though he probably could use new clothes, shoes or food, but for pews for his church, as everyone stood on a sunday morning. So they built pews for the church.


Oliver says that these were the most humble men of God he has ever met. They never once asked for themselves or their families, but for their congregations.


The stories of the children are so sad. One little girl in the orphanage was sold by her sister into prostitution when she was 12. A 14-yr-old girl in one of the neighborhoods has a 2-yr-old. The missionaries believe her stepfather is the father.

The children in the orphanage are treated wonderfully. They are fed well and taken care of. They go to school and learn trades. The children in the neighborhoods are not so lucky. None have shoes. There feet are so worn from never having worn shoes, or even socks. The main goal of the mission team was to hand out 400 pairs of new shoes to all of these children. They go from this church 2x a year to bring shoes and to minister wherever they can.

I've been counting down the hours since yesterday morning...Oliver comes home tonight! He's been gone all week. He and three others from our church went to Nicaragua this week to work with some orphanages, among other things. I wasn't very excited about him going and, to be honest, neither was he. Being short a paycheck right now is way low on our list of things we need. He called Sunday night when they got there, said it was a nice enough place and that they would get a little training the following morning before heading out. I had a crummy week. Nothing happened that hasn't happened before, but it was just difficult since he wasn't here. I learned to lean on God rather than Oliver this week, something I have a hard time doing. But I prayed Tuesday afternoon that God would work a change in our family. Then Oliver called me on Wed. night and was so excited! He was talking so fast that I could barely make sense of it, but it was powerful! I can't wait 'til he gets home and tells me everything! 2 more hours...
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

Junie B. Jones

We started reading Junie B. Jones. Our Fairy loves Junie B! They really even look the same, as Our Princess pointed out to me!

I picked up a Junie B. book at That Big Book Sale last month for 50 cents, but it was in spanish. Our Fairy wanted me to read it to her, but she can't really handle that much Spanish, so I tried to translate it on the fly...did not work. So we got it from the library and, honestly, it's the longest she has sat still and listened to a story ever. I could tell she was interested, because she kept asking questions about the monster and the mean boy. She never asks any questions when we read her sister's books. We read almost the whole thing in one sitting! (7 of the 8 chapters.)

Here's Our Fairy on Tía Oly's church bus when we were in El Salvador last December... you can't really see her face, but please notice how well she is matched!

All alone again...

Oliver left this morning for Nicaragua. He and three from our church met up with 7 from a church in N. Augusta to go to Nicaragua(can I say daylight savings played havoc on where we were supposed to be when?) He'll be home sometime Friday. I truly will miss him. He's called three times already since he left: once from Charlotte to say they were on the plane, then from Miami to say they were waiting to board the plane, and then from the orphanage they are staying at this week to tell me what a great place it is and he'll try to post pictures online...until then, I'll just try to survive this week...not that it's really that different from a normal week when he works 70 hours, it's just that I don't have that support time with him at night this week that I am accustomed to. My goal this week is to get all of the house cleaned for him. We had a yard sale a couple of weeks ago at the church to raise money for this trip and I turned my house upside down getting stuff together and half of it is still sitting in my living room (and we won't even talk about the office), /c it never got taken...so, hard work this week. I can do it!

Hop on Pop

Our Princess was too excited that she could read almost an entire book by herself! Shoot, I'm just as excited as she is! We found a copy of Hop on Pop at the thrift store and I got it since I noticed it had lots of short vowel sounds. Its the one Dr. Seuss book we didn't own (didn't rank up there with Green Eggs and Ham, although now it may). Our Princess has been reading it to me all week and learning new words to boot! I'm looking into getting a reading curriculum to do at home in the afternoons, because school really does go slow with teaching to read. I read somewhere that children are ready to read long before they are ready to write...that kind of makes sense. I can't wait to discover some more with her!

Pumpkin-Chocolate Bread

I love the internet sometimes! I was sitting staring at a can of pumpkin and thought, What am I going to do with pumpkin? So I went online and at Meals.com I found a recipe that looks yummy...so I am going to try it and see if it is as yummy as it looks!

Here it is:

Makes 2 loaves...



nonstick cooking spray

1 cup (6oz) semi-sweet morsels

3 cups AP flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 3/4 cup gran. sugar

1 can (15oz) 100% pure pumpkin

1/2 cup canola oil

4 large egg whites



preheat 350; coat 8 x 5 inch loaf pans with spray

Melt morsels in medium, micro-safe bowl on High for 1 min.; STIR...morsels may not be melted all the way, if necessary melt in 10-15 sec. intervals until completely melted. (this is what the recipe says, but I did this step after the flour one...)

Combine flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder in large bowl; stir well

Whisk together sugar, pumpkin, oil, and egg whites in a large bowl. Gradually stir in flour mix. Add 1 1/2 cups pumpkin mix to melted chocolate, stir to combine. Spoon half of pumpkin mix into bottom of each prepared pan. Spoon pumpkin chocolate mix between the pans and top with remaining pumpkin mix. Smooth down top

Bake 1 hour or until toothepick comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 min. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

You don't have to use the chocolate for this recipe (though who wouldn't??). You can leave it out and just bake for 55 min.

Well, it is really good, although a nice ganache drizzled on the top would not be remiss...and it looks just like the picture online!

**Also, I've recently (Christmas 2011) discovered it's really good with just chips throughout instead of melting them with the mix...
*** and I've also started making it with Cream Cheese filling... Oh My...

Success!!!

Our Oso is 3 months old exactly today and last night he slept from 9pm to 7am this morning... We've never had that. The girls went from 11 to 7 at 11 and 10 weeks respectively, but with the girls, we held onto that 11ish feeding until they were probably 5 months old for fear that they would wake up at 2 am. Last night we were a little off routine and he ate later than normal. I meant to feed him again before going to bed, because I was planning another up 'til midnight extravaganza, but I fell asleep. Then I woke up about 6:30 am (late) and realized he was still sleeping...YAY!! He didn't wake up until Our Fairy went into his room looking for her cowboy boots. That's my boy!!!

And he is always so HAPPY when he wakes up! That has got to be my favorite part! There is nothing better than walking into the room and hearing him cooing to himself and the HUGE smile when he finally sees me!

Super-Busy Weekend!

We had a super-busy weekend and I had to go back to work today for a break! Our Princess had a game Saturday, which they won AND she scored a goal. Then we went to CSU's homecoming "parade" and lunch to hang out with some friends from school who were in town. Then we went home and I got a call about the Disney Train downtown. It was a publicity train for the new A Christmas Carol movie. It was cool, but too difficult to do with two little girls and a baby. It was also very windy, which was good, because then it wasn't so hot! Afterward we went to work, came home and crashed.

Sunday morning we played hookie from church and went to my parent's church's Fall Festival. The girls loved it and we would have stayed there all afternoon, but we had to go to a birthday. Then we came home, moved furniture around, the girls crashed and I did laundry for the week until about midnight...

Oliver leaves for Nicaragua Sunday for a week. Its the first time we've been away from each other that long in our almost 8 years of marraige. I think the longest we've been apart has been 48 hours? I'm going to miss him a lot and I know the kids will too. He works every evening this week, so we won't get to see him that much before he goes. Hopefully the time will fly by and he'll be home safe and sound and swine flu-free before we know it.

Banana Bread

Our Fairy has been doing a unit on Curious George these last three weeks...we brought Curious George and his Adventure bag home for a couple of days and inside was the book, and scrapbook of her class's "adventures"--bike day, museum, library, "camping" as well as Curious George's adventures with each of the children in their home or wherever they happen to be during those few days they have him. Our family's big adventure was to go the the big kid playground (reserved for 1-5th graders) while Our Princess was at soccer practice. It was a cute idea.

Also inside the book was a recipe for Curious George banana bread...so far it smells great, hopefully it tastes great as well...I love banana bread warm with butter...mmmmm....

Anyways, here is the recipe!

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 3/4 cup of AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp cinnamon (optional--I did one with and one without...we'll see which is better!)

Set oven to 350.

Mix all the ingredients well, so there are no lumps.

Put in greased loaf pan.

Bake for one hour, or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. I'd let it sit for a bit and cool off so that it holds together when you cut it. You can always nuke it to make it warm later.

Now, the one on the left was the better of the two...it has the cinnamon in it...we really couldn't tast the difference...it was cooked in the more narrow ( narrower?) clear loaf pan while the one on the right was cooked in a wider dark glass loaf pan. Oliver said the texture on the left was better.

Marco Polo

I felt like a good mami this week. Our Princess and I were reading a book about space and she was asking me about the sun. I'm not sure how it came about, but we ended up in the bathroom with a candle and an apple, which I had drawn a not-to-bad rendition of the globe on, on a shish kabob skewer. I explained how the earth revolved around the sun and rotated. I explained to her that while the sun was shining on South Carolina, it was night time in China. I thought it was interesting and she had fun turning it around the "sun" but figured that was all she would remember.
Tuesday morning, on the way to school, we were going down Ladson road and looking at the beautiful sky as the sun came up.
Our Princess says "I guess its nighttime in China now."
I think I like this!

Self-image

I am so ANGRY and FRUSTRATED that my beautiful little girl is starting to feel that she is not beautiful. She told me today that she didn't want to wear the dress she wore today because her tummy is big. That breaks my heart and I don't know how to manage that kind of situation. She is such a beautiful girl! We don't ever say diet, we eat foods because they are good for us, not because they make us skinny. We want to be healthy, not skinny. I don't complain about my figure in front of her (I rarely complain about my figure at all, what's the point?) I'm careful about wording things around my girls and don't criticize physical attributes of anyone. I want them to grow up with a great self-esteem and to love who God made them to be. I tell her that she is "fearfully and wonderfully made" and we tell her all the time that she is beautiful. I HATE those Nutrisystem commercials and change the channel every time they come on, even if she's not in the room. I do everything I can to make sure she knows that she is a beautiful girl inside and out. I hope she's not getting this from her friends at school or church. It is very common in the hispanic culture to give nicknames based on physical attributes that we as americans would probably find offensive. My father-in-law calls my husband el negrito because he is the darkest skinned of all his children. I get called la chele (white girl), my bro.-in-law el chino because his eyes are a little slanted. Its not meant to be mean, just stating the obvious. Yet if you've ever watched the spanish-language channels, they have more infomercials for weight-loss than I have ever seen and a couple of the moms at church are pushy on their pudgy daughters. My heart aches for them. I was a teenager who constantly heard that I was too big and when I think of how small I was then, I could scream. I don't want that for my little girl. I want her to know that she is beautiful and doesn't need to change anything. My heart just hurts at the thought that Our Princess is unhappy. I hope it was just a innocent observation and I am blowing this out of proportion, but what if it's not? A five-year-old shouldn't have to worry about her size. Sometimes I really hate this society that we live in...

Isn't she the most beautiful little girl in the world?

What a Beautiful Day

It's been raining all day. Not a summer storm kind of rain, but a steady, cold, wet drizzle. I love this kind of weather, especially if there is nowhere important for me to be. I opened all the windows and let the cool wet air refreshen the whole house. And I baked. I made a Pastel Tres Leches for Oliver and our friend Hector's birthday. Mostly it was for Hector, as I decorated it with the Honduran flag(they just qualified for the World Cup; first time in 27-odd years). I understand truly why they cost so much in the bakery(although I will say that the ones I have seen have been decorated horribly...that's why I've tried my hand at it, I can't do worse than that!) It took over an hour just to get the batter ready to put in the oven and the entire time it is cooking you are doing the next steps, so there is no reprieve! The cake itself was really good...the frosting had something wrong...I haven't yet figured it out. It tasted a little too powdered sugary, I guess. It was my first time decorating the cake and it didn't look too bad. Normally I just dip the strawberries in cream and put them all over the top, but this time I got creative and got out Maga's piping kit and made a flag. I really enjoy creating something that doesn't hang around to haunt me. Art work I always have to look at and critique, the cake I enjoyed making and decided that next time it would be better, but really can't compare it because it is no longer there to compare; so, even if it wasn't, I can pretend that the next one IS better!

Count my blessings...

Ok, so I've had the worst three days I can think of and if I dwell on how terrible they have been, I know I will easily fall into hysterics and we really cannot afford that right now...so instead, I will count my blessings...

My children and husband are healthy and happy
My husband is the hardest working man I know and I have know doubt he would do anything for his family
My parents are super supportive and take great care of Our Oso during the day when I work
I get along great with my sisters and brother
Tía lives with us and is a great help
I have a car that is running
Oliver has a truck that is running
I had the help of three wonderful mechanics when I had a flat yesterday and didn't have to change the tire all by myself
I had some great quiet time yesterday as I waited 3 hours for Sam's to change my tire
I have great students who really seem to love my class which makes it worthwhile to get up at 5am three days a week
The police officer only gave me a warning this afternoon, even though I had no license on me, I could only find last year's insurance and registration, and I was doing 9 miles over the limit.
I had no accident while my insurance was lapsed for the last 6 days
I have great friends whom I could call at a minute's notice and they would help out
God is in control

So, I know I am blessed and even though this has been a rough three days, God will provide and even if He only provides His peace, it will be enough!

Should have stayed home...

I've never had problems with my children in public(Not huge ones anyways). I've heard horror stories from moms who refuse to go out with more than one child. I've never understood that. I don't have behavior issues with the girls. They don't touch what they shouldn't (for the most part) and the wouldn't dream of falling out on the floor because I told them they couldn't have something. I didn't realize its not a behavior issue, its logistics. I mean what do you do with the baby when the middle child has to go to the bathroom? Or your purse? Last night was a prime example of bad planning...
We went by Lowe's after work to see Daddy before bedtime. As we left, Our Fairy was crawling into the van and pulled her dress down, breaking a strap. That should have been the clue to go home and go to walmart's after Oliver got off work. However, I didn't listen. When we got to Walmart I started filling the cart with things we needed and she says "I have to go to the bathroom." So we head over to the bathroom at layaway and I stand at the door with the cart and Our Oso while the girls go into the bathroom. A couple seconds later, I hear crying. I call for Our Princess to come hold the door open so I could see Our Oso and go in to see what's wrong with Our Fairy. She didn't make it to the stall. She had peed all over the floor and in the process of stopping it, had grabbed the hem of her dress and made sure it was nice and wet as well. Now, she has never been one to have accidents. I think this would be the 2nd since she started potty training over a year ago. She's had bed issues since her tonsilectomy, but never out in public. So I've got a cart full of groceries, a baby who is hungry and starting to wake up, a little girl who is upset because this never happens to her, and all I can think is "I should have gone straight home."
So I throw out the panties...towel dry the dress, wrap her in Our Oso's blanket and put her in the cart. I grab two more things we desperately needed and got out of there asap.
Then we got home. By this time Our Oso is screaming for dinner, the girls are filthy from the playground(not to mention they haven't eaten) and I have to go to the bathroom. So I quickly glance in the oven to see if it's empty, put it on for pizza, run and turn on the tub so the girls can bathe, use the bathroom real quick and grab the baby and start to nurse him. Then I smell it...like burnt smores. I put the baby down and ran to the kitchen. Tía had made a cake and put it in the oven. There was a plastic handled knife in the pan with it. The cake was black and the knife was goo. I turned off the oven and took out the cake. Wonderful.
Anyways, when I put the pizza in the oven I forgot that I had turned it off, so the pizza took much longer to cook than normal. After that, I fed them and put them to bed and all was calm in my world. What a rush!

Cake Mix Cookies

Ok, we used to make these cookies in college for Reading Nights before exams. They are super simple and really good!

Preheat oven 350

I box of cake mix (your choice)
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil

Mix it all together. Please note: if you are using a hand mixer, this could take out your motor. The dough gets pretty thick. I use a countertop mixer and it works really well. Otherwise, I would use a wooden spoon or (like we did in college) use your hands!.

Spoon it out to desired size. They don't grow out like some cookies do, the actually tend to grow UP. Put in the oven for about 7 min. or until cooked (you don't want them cooked too dark)
I sprinkle mine with powdered sugar. Tonight I made Devil's chocolate, Lemon, and Carrot Cake for church tomorrow morning. YUM!

GOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!

Our Princess scored her first goal in soccer today and, of course, I didn't have the camera ready! She won't claim it as hers, though. She says that she and another girl worked together and they both kicked it in. But she is pleased with herself and I am happy she is enjoying soccer this season. I think not having her two best friends on her team this season is actually helping her. She seems more focused and willing to make a great effort. Last year, it seemed like every time one had to go to the bathroom, another had to go; when one was tired, so were the others...She ran her heart out today and I hope that this is a sport she continues for years to come. Its good for her and I do worry about her having my genes and having difficulty staying in shape. I want her to find something that she loves to do and keeps her active!

More Blessings

Oliver started a new job in the evenings at Lowe's. He's been working hard to help us make ends meet and I have never been more proud of him. I'm trying to hold up my end of our life and boy is it hard! I've spent all day (since we got home from school) getting rid of old junk and kid's toys and just paper pile-up that I've ignored for the past few months. Yay fun...
Our Princess had a field trip to the America LaFranc Fire Museum today and Our Princess had a field trip to the Children's Museum Downtown...I couldn't go on both, but since Aunt Laura was driving the bus to the Children's Museum trip and would therefore be there with Our Fairy, I chose to go to the Fire Museum. Oh, but it was so hard watching my little Little Fairy go off on the big yellow bus! She was waving wildly and only too excited about getting to ride the bus! The museum was just icing on the cake.
I had Our Princess and her cousin in my group at the museum. It was really neat, but I didn't get to read everything...unfortunately the fire truck similator and the playground in the middle of the museum were more to The girls' liking. They loved all the different trucks, too. So I really only got to see that which was within view of the play area.
And Our Oso! Oh wow, he was a smiling baby today! Just as happy as could be to watch the flashing lights and hear the kids screaming and laughing...I think I got more pictures of him smiling today than ever!
Now I'm home, the girls are napping, Our Oso is fighting through his floor time and the cleaning is slowly (but surely) getting done. What a blessed day!

Karen's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these for the Feria de Países because I wanted something All-American...but not apple pie...what's more american than good old chocolate chip cookies!!! I got the recipe from a friend, Karen, and they are wonderful! Especially right out of the oven...they cry for milk! You see them here next to Aunt Laura's Baked Macaroni and Cheese (another All-American favorite)

1 1/3 cup Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 package(11.5 oz) chocolate chips( or chunks)

Heat oven to 375
Mix Crisco, Sugars, eggs, and vanilla
Mix in dry ingredients
Drop rounded tsp. dough (or big spoonful depending on your taste) about 2" apart on baking sheet (ok, personal favorite here...I tried regular baking sheets and the airflow ones, with my Pampered Chef Rectangular stoneware 'cause I had a LOT to make and by far the PC made the best cookies...they didn't over or under cook...they were perfect!)
Cookies will be soft, but you want them light brown...about 8-10 min.
Leave them to sit on the pan for about 10 min. before removing to a cooling rack(which for some reason mine disappeared; grew legs and walked I guess...but the metal rack in the microwave does about the same job.)
The key is not to overbake the cookies!
Should make about four dozen...or three or four huge ones ;o)

What a Blessed Weekend!

Our Princess had her first soccer game of the season yesterday and she did wonderful! Last year she whined about being too tired to run and being hot and sweaty...This year she ran her heart out and almost made a goal! Hopefully this attitude will continue through the season. Our Fairy had to join in and wore her sister's uniform from last year. She is already dribbling like a pro and can't wait to play next fall! They are truly a blessing and I love nothing more than watching them enjoy themselves!

We had our Feria de Países last night and it was a blast! The girls dressed in the outfits we bought last December in El Salvador. Our Fairy called it her El Salvador Princess dress. The girls got one pair of shoes back, as its been two weeks since they were confiscated. Our Princess has done exceptional taking care of hers...Our Fairy we're still working on! I braided their hair and they really were so beautiful. The food was wonderful and we had people from many countries represented: USA and El Salvador(of course), Méjico, Bolivia, Panamá, Puerto Rico, Honduras. There were almost 100 people there, which, for our church, is a lot! We're hoping next year to have an even bigger event!

I was exhausted this morning. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be nice to take a break on Sunday mornings. Not from God, but from the responsibilities that being a leader in a small church brings. Our Pastor is an Army Reservist, and we are grateful for his service. He has been to Afghanistan for almost 1 year (he returned last fall) and will more than likely leave again in January for Iraq. We pray for his safety. Our church did wonderful while he was away last time: everyone pulled together and we got it all done, we kept up every ministry and had new baptisms and members.  Lots of prayers needed!!

What a Day!

We took Our Princess to school this morning and then went home to get Our Oso ready for his 2 month appointment. He needed a bath and some Tylenol. Well, we got the bath done and forgot the Tylenol...Running out the door late for the appointment. We arrived and I had to go in the "side door"...you know the one they take you in when they want to talk to you about your account. Apparently, the insurance that we have been killing ourselves to pay has only paid one thing! Very frustrating!

Anyways, on a happy note, Our Oso has grown to 12 lb. 11 oz. and 23.5 inches. He was not happy about the vaccinations however...But Our Fairy had fun! The doctor let her play with the look-in-your-ear/eye/mouth thingy with the light on it and then gave her a tongue depressor when she left. She promptly tried it out on her little brother.

I got Our Oso's first smile on camera today! He's very selective about who he smiles at and I never have the camera handy when he does...

We got out just in time to get to the bank, then went to school and picked Our Princess up! Then we went home to do some housework...The weather was beautiful today! I love fall days when its cool enough to turn off the AC and open all the windows.

Anyways, upon looking in the cabinet I became aware that there was no Tylenol for infants in there! Poor Baby! I called my parents and they were at the commissary and would drop some off on their way home. Finally they got here around 5...poor, poor baby...needless to say, we were a demand feed family today, cause that's all I could do for him.

While I was consoling Our Oso and waiting for Maga to show up with the Tylenol, Our Princess learned how to tie her shoes! We had been working on it half-heartedly the last week and I promised her we would sit and do it this weekend, but I guess she was determined enough to figure it out herself! She still needs to practice getting it tighter, but she's done it!!

We went to Maga's church after that, where I do childcare and Our Princess goes to Daisies. I finally bought her shirt and workbook...I feel like a bad mommy sometimes, especially when my child is the only one not wearing the yellow shirt in class!

Estimation

Ok, so we were supposed to be practicing estimating with Our Princess these last couple of weeks at home, but I've been a little slack...beans in a cup are just the sort of thing that slips my mind when life happens...Anyways, we were at Uncle Brandon's birthday party which was mostly adults and babies and Our Princess was bored. She was rooting around Aunt Ellen's board games and found an old Mancala game. So I sat with her and taught her (without all the house tricks we used to play in college) and realized, she's having to estimate here! She loved that game and when I brought one home last night, she happily sat down with Daddy and taught him to play. She was a little put out when she lost the third game and then the 4-7th, but we are working on being a good loser. Definitely the best $3 I spent this month! I think game night will be an important part of our future!

Tinkie Class!

On the way to school on Monday, Our Fairy was asking if they were going to have the Tinkie Class at school today...Needless to say, I was confused! They were learning about Curious George all month, so maybe she thought the next progression was Tinkerbell? Anyways, I told her that they would be learning about Curious George this week.
"Oh, ok Mami..." she says and we go on our way.
Fast Forward two hours and I am arriving in her class to do spanish with K3. She runs up to me yelling, "Look Mami! Tinkie! Tinkie!" Again I have no clue what she's talking about, but I look down and she is pointing to my file folder that I carry all my spanish class work in and, sure enough, there was Tinkerbell. Apparently to her, Tinkie class was Spanish class.
And I am the teacher!
It makes sense now. She wouldn't know that I come to teach Spanish. She has no idea yet that other people only speak english...as far as she is concerned, I show up once a week to teach her class a song and dance. Foreign languages are foreign ideas for her. Chances are, if she doesn't know it in spanish, she probably doesn't know it in english either.

sneakers for two weeks...

I rocked Our Princess' world today...We've been having issues with finding shoes when we need them because two little girls don't put them away, they leave them all over the house. So, I told them yesterday that was the last time they would do that. The next time I had to ask them to come get their shoes and put them away, or we couldn't find the shoes we needed because they got left out, I would put all of their shoes away except one pair of sneakers for school. If they are able to take care of those shoes for two weeks, I will give back one pair at a time as they show how responsible they can be. Our Princess freaked out...you would have thought I asked her to go to school naked.
"Sneakers don't go with a dress!" My child owns one pair of shorts that we save for soccer practice. She wears skorts for PE. Needless to say, she's traumatized at the idea of having to wear only sneakers for two weeks. Hopefully, she will learn from this.

Pastel Tres Leches

Cake:
10 eggs (large)-separated
1 cup AP flour
1 tbs. baking powder
1 cup gran. sugar
1 tbs. vanilla extract
powdered sugar
wax paper

--Preheat oven 350 degrees. Spray 2 9 x 12 pans and put wax paper (sprayed on both sides)
Sift flour and baking powder together.
Beat yolks until light-lemon color (20 min. or so)--very thick, like pudding...they should ribbon when you lift the beaters...
Add 1/2 cup sugar 2 tbs. at a time.
Add vanilla & beat 3 min. more.

Whip egg whites until soft peaks form.
Add 1/2 cup gran. sugar slowly.
Fold whites into yolks 1/3 at a time with rubber spatula.
Add flour all at once and fold in.
Spread batter evenly in two pans and bake 20-30 min. or until cake comes away from the sides of pan, not wax paper (learned that the hard way)

Filling:
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups strawberries (sliced with an egg slicer is best)

whip cream and vanilla until soft peaks form
Add sugar and fold in strawberries
put in fridge.

Take cake out of oven when ready, let rest 5 min. then tip out on two clean hand towels sprinkled with powdered sugar.

make soaking liquid: (Make 2x depending on your taste, whether you like it super moist or not)
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup halfnhalf
1 cup evaporated milk

mix together with whisk.

Take first cake right side up, top with filling and place 2nd cake top side down on top. Skewer the cake all over and then drizzle (slowly) the soaking liquid all over. Place in fridge over night.

Now Tía tells me that I should just use egg whites and sugar, but I love a buttercream frosting and most of the cakes I've seen just use a glorified cool whip which I do not like...the one cake I loved used buttercream...it was also the most beautifully decorated (for a baptism).
** Should you decide to use whipped cream, it is very yummy, especially with cinnamon sprinkled on top...but only if you make it from whipping cream...don't go getting the blue tub!!

Frosting:
1 cup butter(2 sticks)
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tbs. milk
(the recipe I found for this said half, but it wasn't enough to cover the cake well enough to decorate. I suppose you could do it in two halves and tint one...)

Beat soft butter in a mixer until soft and fluffy (about 10 min.)
Add vanilla and mix 2 min.
Slowly add powdered sugar until well incorporated.
Add milk.

Cover the cake with frosting, using whole or sliced strawberries to decorate.

you broke my heart, Daddy!

The Princess Dramas

Last night Our Fairy was getting ready for bed...I'm not quite sure what Daddy did, but she came running to me to tell me that "Daddy bwoke my heart Mami!"
"What did Daddy do, honey" I ask. Oliver came in after her and before she could say anything asks, "Where's your heart Leyni?"
"In my tummy!"


I was channel surfing on the radio this morning on the way to take Our Princess to school and the news was on one...they were talking about Joe Wilson and the comments that Carter made about him. I changed the station real quick, but not before she heard the word racist.
"what's racist, Mami?" I thought for a few moments, trying to give her an idea without disillusioning her or giving her ideas. "It's a bad word. It describes people who treat others differently just because they don't look the same."
"oh," she says, "its not those things you put on your teeth? You know, the metal stuff?"

The wonderfully refreshing ideas they come up with!!!