Joseph sure has been funny today. Sometimes it's been almost exasperating, but most of the time we've just been laughing and laughing and laughing about the way he says things like a broken record.
I guess I could start at dinner. He just didn't want to eat it ("no way no way no way no no no no way no way no way," he informed us) and so he was just at the table with us reminding us of things he would rather eat ("ammal crackers. Graham crackers? Ammal crackers. Raisins? Raisins?") when he slipped off his chair and bonked his nose on the way down. No blood, but his nose was a bit red. And he sure was upset. He finally calmed down when we said he could take a bath after family night. "Bath. Bath. Bath. Bath. Bath. Mommy bath. Joseph bath. Mommy shower. Bath." Well, we decided to do the bath first. But then we decided to multitask and do the bath and family night at the same time! (Which was good, because he really wanted me to get in with him for some reason, and having a lesson instead distracted him from this. ["Mommy bath? Mommy pants off? Daddy bath?"])
After a few songs and a prayer, it was time for the lesson. For Joseph, we usually do the lesson from "Behold Your Little Ones," and this time the lesson was "The Scriptures Teach about Jesus Christ." Kevin grabbed the Bible and asked Joseph if he could say "scriptures." He then explained that the scriptures such as the Bible and the Book of Mormon teach about Jesus Christ. Then Joseph remembered last week's lesson: "Book Mommo boat Jesus!" (Book of Mormon teaches about Jesus Christ.) "Book. Book. Jesus. Winnie Pooh." "Yes," continued Kevin, "The Book of Mormon teaches about Jesus Christ."
"Winnie Pooh!"
"But not about Winnie the Pooh."
"Winnie Pooh! Diaper!" Somehow he came across a swim diaper with Winnie the Pooh on it, and that has been a big deal at our house. Good ol' marketing.
"Winnie! Diaper! Winnie! Diaper!" The lesson basically went downhill from there.
Well, we got him out of the bath ("Bye, water") and brought him back downstairs to try and get more healthy food in him. "Ammal crackers? Graham crackers? Ammal crackers?" Then he sat on my lap and starting asking for strawberries. Earlier today he had said he wanted strawberries, but when I asked to make sure he said, "No. Yucky." But this time it sounded like he actually wanted it. Kevin went and got him a strawberry, which he didn't want. "Stcarewaf;iaewug;ia!" he said again, and I realized what he was talking about. "Oh, scriptures!" So I went and grabbed the Book of Mormon off the shelf and we looked through the pictures at the beginning. When we got to the picture about the Waters of Mormon, he got really excited. "Baptize!" he said. "Yes!" we said, excited that he recognized what was going on. He kept coming back to that picture, and said, "More baptize. More baptize."
We thought this was a pretty good thing to encourage, so we went to the LDS Media Library and found more pictures of baptism. Then we watched the "Jesus video" about John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ. "More baptize!" Then I decided to watch a video on Facebook of a cute baby. "More baby! More baby!" "No, Joseph, it's time for bed." "More baby! More baptize! Baby! Baptize! Baptize baby!" As I took him up the stairs, he cried and yelled repeatedly, "Baptize baby!"
So yeah, pretty productive lesson, right? Winnie the Pooh and infant baptism. We'll work on that last one.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Golden Girl
It's Leslie's birthday!!! I look forward to this day every year because 3*2=6 (3/26), and because it means we're that much closer to 70 degree weather (well, maybe).
But this year is extra special because it's her golden birthday! Woohoo!
In honor of this momentous occasion, I've decided to do a list. So, here are 26 reasons why you are awesome, Leslie.
1. She was a very happy baby, which probably contributed to me being born. Which I appreciate.
2. When she was 3 years old, she told my mom that Wizard of Oz, Land Before Time, and some other movie (American Tail?) were all the same story, which was people going on a journey to get back home again. Not too shabby of a thematic analysis, if you ask me.
3. She has always been my example in everything, from hobbies to school. In some ways, I always already had my school schedule picked out -- I would just do whatever she had done. And it worked great!
4. She has also been a big cultural influence on our family. It took some of us a long time, but we all learned to like Vienna Teng because of her.
5. She taught me my first recipe -- spaghetti.
6. She was always very good at making sure I sang the hymns right. If I tried to sing the alto part for "Because I Have Been Given Much," she would tap the "Unison" marking until I got it right. She also taught me that in "How Great the Wisdom and the Love," Christ's blood was spilt, not split.
7. Oh, and she's also very very good at using words correctly. Here's a list of examples of things she is right about.
8. And while we're at it . . . so when I was a sophomore and she was a senior, I went with my mom to parent-teacher conferences. I can't remember why Leslie wasn't there, but we decided to hit all her classes too. When we got to AP Bio, Mr. McMillan told us that on his last test, she tactfully and humorously corrected his spelling on one of his problems. When we got home and asked her about it, she said that he had written complimentary bases instead of complementary bases. Then there was a question that asked about bases doing . . . something that didn't seem very nice (like destroying some proteins or something). So she commented that those were not very complimentary bases. I dunno. It was funny. (Like this.)
And then, two years later, the same typo was there! And I was able to make the same comment! It was one of the proudest moments of my high school career.
9. She taught me how to make cool bookmarks. We'd draw pictures on some paper with crayons, and then we'd hold the paper up to a lightbulb to melt the wax onto the paper. I have no idea how she thought this up.
10. She is the best sightreader I know.
11. She is also the best accompanist I know. One of my favorite parts about going home is going through her piano books and singing songs together. (I have tried and tried to find people who like to do this here in Michigan, and so far I haven't quite been too successful.)
12. Once we stopped fighting over the bench and our pinkies jabbing each other, it was always fun to play duets together.
13. She didn't give me a hard time about being a lot shorter than her. Actually she did, but I eventually grew enough that she couldn't rest her hands on my head anymore.
14. One time she had a friend over and I wanted to bug them and she didn't want me to and my mom made me leave them alone. So I grabbed a stuffed animal and stuck it on a broom and went out outside and tapped on the window with the stuffed animal. When I've mentioned it to her, she said she totally forgot it. It's like all the annoying things I ever did when her friends were there never even happened!
15. She taught me how to dance! When we were little, we would pop in 25 Classical Favorites or Heigh Ho Mozart and jam. Although, I like to think I was the one who came up with the idea to run around with pillows on our heads during Triss-Trass Polka.
16. She would let me hang out with her friends in high school. Actually, she'd let the entire family hang out with her friends in high school.
17. She gave a valedictory speech all about Harry Potter quotes. It was great.
18. She was really good at treating me to Wendy's. Like the time I thought the world was going to end because my CS 142 test was killing me. Or the time she went to celebrate because she "smoked" the GRE. She also took me to Burger Supreme and Leatherby's, and it was always awesome.
19. She can be very stoic about things might freak the rest of us out. Like cancer. When she lost all her hair, she decided to make this video .
20. She has naturally curly hair. Sometimes this makes me so jealous . . .
21. Oh! She also helped write this fun video. 98 miles of bookshelves . . .
22. She is a voracious reader. For example, in 2010 she read 200 books. 200 books! And that's including the unabridged Les Miserables!
23. When she was little, she got into the newspaper for saying she wanted to play the harp someday (must have been a slow news day). And then she decided to take a harp class! So my sister plays the harp!
24. And the organ. And the violin. And she probably learned the recorder at some point.
25. I like her blog.
26. She is pretty much the best gchat buddy ever. She has been so good at talking to Joseph even when he has refused to smile. And she's good at dealing with my stream of consciousness.
Anyway, there's so much to celebrate about her! I hope it's a wonderful wonderful day! (besides your car getting broken into, of course.)
But this year is extra special because it's her golden birthday! Woohoo!
In honor of this momentous occasion, I've decided to do a list. So, here are 26 reasons why you are awesome, Leslie.
1. She was a very happy baby, which probably contributed to me being born. Which I appreciate.
 |
3. She has always been my example in everything, from hobbies to school. In some ways, I always already had my school schedule picked out -- I would just do whatever she had done. And it worked great!
4. She has also been a big cultural influence on our family. It took some of us a long time, but we all learned to like Vienna Teng because of her.
5. She taught me my first recipe -- spaghetti.
6. She was always very good at making sure I sang the hymns right. If I tried to sing the alto part for "Because I Have Been Given Much," she would tap the "Unison" marking until I got it right. She also taught me that in "How Great the Wisdom and the Love," Christ's blood was spilt, not split.
7. Oh, and she's also very very good at using words correctly. Here's a list of examples of things she is right about.
8. And while we're at it . . . so when I was a sophomore and she was a senior, I went with my mom to parent-teacher conferences. I can't remember why Leslie wasn't there, but we decided to hit all her classes too. When we got to AP Bio, Mr. McMillan told us that on his last test, she tactfully and humorously corrected his spelling on one of his problems. When we got home and asked her about it, she said that he had written complimentary bases instead of complementary bases. Then there was a question that asked about bases doing . . . something that didn't seem very nice (like destroying some proteins or something). So she commented that those were not very complimentary bases. I dunno. It was funny. (Like this.)
And then, two years later, the same typo was there! And I was able to make the same comment! It was one of the proudest moments of my high school career.
9. She taught me how to make cool bookmarks. We'd draw pictures on some paper with crayons, and then we'd hold the paper up to a lightbulb to melt the wax onto the paper. I have no idea how she thought this up.
10. She is the best sightreader I know.
11. She is also the best accompanist I know. One of my favorite parts about going home is going through her piano books and singing songs together. (I have tried and tried to find people who like to do this here in Michigan, and so far I haven't quite been too successful.)
12. Once we stopped fighting over the bench and our pinkies jabbing each other, it was always fun to play duets together.
 |
14. One time she had a friend over and I wanted to bug them and she didn't want me to and my mom made me leave them alone. So I grabbed a stuffed animal and stuck it on a broom and went out outside and tapped on the window with the stuffed animal. When I've mentioned it to her, she said she totally forgot it. It's like all the annoying things I ever did when her friends were there never even happened!
15. She taught me how to dance! When we were little, we would pop in 25 Classical Favorites or Heigh Ho Mozart and jam. Although, I like to think I was the one who came up with the idea to run around with pillows on our heads during Triss-Trass Polka.
16. She would let me hang out with her friends in high school. Actually, she'd let the entire family hang out with her friends in high school.
17. She gave a valedictory speech all about Harry Potter quotes. It was great.
18. She was really good at treating me to Wendy's. Like the time I thought the world was going to end because my CS 142 test was killing me. Or the time she went to celebrate because she "smoked" the GRE. She also took me to Burger Supreme and Leatherby's, and it was always awesome.
19. She can be very stoic about things might freak the rest of us out. Like cancer. When she lost all her hair, she decided to make this video .
20. She has naturally curly hair. Sometimes this makes me so jealous . . .
 |
22. She is a voracious reader. For example, in 2010 she read 200 books. 200 books! And that's including the unabridged Les Miserables!
23. When she was little, she got into the newspaper for saying she wanted to play the harp someday (must have been a slow news day). And then she decided to take a harp class! So my sister plays the harp!
24. And the organ. And the violin. And she probably learned the recorder at some point.
25. I like her blog.
26. She is pretty much the best gchat buddy ever. She has been so good at talking to Joseph even when he has refused to smile. And she's good at dealing with my stream of consciousness.
Anyway, there's so much to celebrate about her! I hope it's a wonderful wonderful day! (besides your car getting broken into, of course.)
Monday, March 24, 2014
A fairly typical gchat conversation
Sometimes people want to know what stay-at-home moms do all day. We do a lot of things, but we also do a lot of gchat. At least, I do. With my sisters mainly. I felt like today's conversation gives a good insight into life, particularly the weird things I do to try and make lunch less boring.
Kyra Moon
my son
Leslie Moon
?
Kyra Moon
so I mixed cocoa powder and peanut butter together and am dipping strawberries in it
and he's eating those too
but then
he got the jam out
and now he is dipping cheese in strawberry jam
Leslie Moon
oh I ove that so much
I want cheese in strawberry jam now
Kyra Moon
?
Leslie Moon
love
oh it's so good
Kyra Moon
???
is that a thing?
Leslie Moon
orange cheese and strawberry jam
I doubt it
but i like it
ugh I guess I'm weird
but it's a really good savory-sweet combo
it's like ratatouille
Kyra Moon
anyway
I was going to say
you can tell he's related to me
since he likes weird combos of foods same as me
but I think he's more related to you actually
Leslie Moon
except you apparently don't like cheese and jam
Kyra Moon
I just tried it
it was fine
Leslie Moon
I doubt he's _more_ related t ome
Kyra Moon
I have other stronger tastes in my mouth
you don't think so?
he is your fourth cousin
Leslie Moon
he is your direct descendant
Kyra Moon
and my fourth cousin
Leslie Moon
this sounds like a great blog post
Kyra Moon
he is drinking the jam now
Leslie Moon
okay that' a bit much
Kyra Moon
it's bscially empty
nothing's coming out
Leslie Moon
haha I thought for a second we were going to make a missing-letter message
we got as far as 'sa'
Kyra Moon
oh ell
Leslie Moon
'sah'
just kidding
Kyra Moon
when I say oh ell
it sounds like oh well
I just washed it out
and put milk in
for him to drink
it worked for a minute
Leslie Moon
every little sip counts I guess
Kyra Moon
now he's sticking the knife back in
Leslie Moon
as long as he licks the knife
milky
Kyra Moon
then when I was looking away
he took the remainder of the strawberries
and the saltines
Leslie Moon
oh no
Kyra Moon
and put them in the jar
and put the lid on
and shook it all together
Leslie Moon
delic
Kyra Moon
srsly
pb in eyebrows
Leslie Moon
classy
Saturday, March 22, 2014
What would I say?
Have you ever used what-would-i-say.com? It looks at your Facebook statuses and then creates new ones using words and phrases you've used. Some of them make sense. Some of them don't.
Anyway, I felt like playing with it today, and here are some of the best ones I got:
Well, some of them are funny, at least. It's kind of fun to have your sentences thrown back at you in strange ways to see what kind of words and constructions you use. I was happy that not all of them were about weather, because that's all I think I talk about on Facebook these days.
What were some of your funniest statusbots?
Anyway, I felt like playing with it today, and here are some of the best ones I got:
- thanks to Shaunae for babysitting a loud sneeze
- likes Ting until basketball season
- Our teacher refers occasionally and adoringly to the church building.
- on espn comment board the universe that they might tickle Joseph. (okay I know that doesn't make sense)
- A bunch of Mormons living in the color of the answer is hard. (that sounds really deep)
- I'm kind of funny that snowflakes, which makes exploring much more constructive uses of your kid's hair.
- In the cereal killer. That poor box of water? I'll start
- keeps getting distracted by missionary attire
Well, some of them are funny, at least. It's kind of fun to have your sentences thrown back at you in strange ways to see what kind of words and constructions you use. I was happy that not all of them were about weather, because that's all I think I talk about on Facebook these days.
What were some of your funniest statusbots?
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Party Central!!!
Okay, the title is pretty funny to me right now because today is a rainy, dreary day where I don't want to go outside at all or talk to people because I have a sore throat and Joseph has a runny nose and blasted molars bothering him . . . but last week was a nonstop party!!!
It all started Monday. Not that we did anything in particular Monday, but the weather was so nice that I just wandered around with Joseph, talking to people and photosynthesizing and jumping in puddles, of which there were many. Same thing Tuesday.
Then on Wednesday, we got a ton of snow again, so our outdoor adventures came to a temporary end . . . but the parties were just starting! First, Michelle braved the snow to come over and help decorate for the Pi Day/Ides of March/Square Root of 10 Day/St. Patrick's party we decided to put on because we needed something to look forward to. Then, the missionaries came at 5 for dinner (thank goodness for crockpots!). Soon after they left, we went to a recital for Kevin's home teachee. It was lovely.
Thursday came around, and with it came the first of the activities I was really in charge of, dubbed "Ward Testimony Night." The idea was to have anyone with a conversion story come and write it down, and anyone else was welcome to come too. Not too complicated of an idea, but it still took a little bit of planning. And, because I was busy with other stuff, I kept trying to pawn off the planning to the ward mission leader (sorry Jon), who had to remind me that this was my thing (and then helped out in the nursery so that I had no choice but to conduct). So I took charge of it, and I think it went fine.
And then . . . the party! Here is my "gloppy" invitation:
We decided to keep the party a bit smaller because of limited space, but I sort of wished everyone could have come. Then again, it was a total nerd fest, starting with the decorations. We had ribbons with digits of pi streamed across the wall, streamers with digits of sqrt(10) wrapped around the banister (okay that was probably the biggest waste of my life ever), and garlands made of shamrocks and squares with Greek letters throughout the house. Oh, and quotes from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" on the walls, too.
And that was only the beginning of it all! People were instructed to come in togas, Irish clothes, or as a "square." Then, for dinner, we had pasta, even though I don't think ancient Romans had pasta. (It was easy.) During dinner, we talked about things like gerunds. Yep. Talking about gerunds has never been something I planned to do at a party, but I sure enjoyed it.
After dinner, we read excerpts from Julius Caesar, which was great because people really got into character. Then we had dessert -- pie for Pi Day of course, rainbow jello for St. Patrick's Day, and brownies for square root of 10 day, which someday I will convince the general populace to celebrate with me since pi is overrated.
After most everyone had left, those of us remaining decided to play the game where you say someone's name and the person in the middle tries to hit them with a newspaper before they say someone else's game. Except, we used Greek letters instead of names. It was hard! Then everyone went home, and the party was done . . .
Except it wasn't! There was still a baby shower I was half in charge of Saturday morning! I decided to make pumpkin bars for it late that night. Right before I woke up, I dreamed that I forgot to put the baking soda in. Then I woke up and realized that was true. Oh well. People still ate them.
But yeah, the baby shower! It was actually the 3rd I've helped plan this winter. I guess when you visit teach pregnant women, that's what happens. :) It ended up being a really, really nice shower, and I can't really take credit for it other than making an Evite invitation, providing un-baking-soda-ed pumpkin bars, and hanging up a piece of yarn or two for decoration.
And then, after the lights were turned off and the doors were locked, my random party planning extravaganza was done! There were still a few social things that we went to, like a poetry slam where I scared small children (mostly my own) by reading Pop Rocks and a St. Patrick's dinner we went to, but for the most part we've just sat around the house watching Pooh and enjoying the silence and decorations we will never take down.
So, anyway, here is the moral of the story:
1. Being busy is the best. Plus if you know people are coming over you keep the house cleaner, which feels better.
2. Parties are more fun to plan with people than by yourself. I don't really feel like I did all that much work because everything was a team effort.
That said, I don't mind taking a little break from party planning for a bit. :)
It all started Monday. Not that we did anything in particular Monday, but the weather was so nice that I just wandered around with Joseph, talking to people and photosynthesizing and jumping in puddles, of which there were many. Same thing Tuesday.
 |
| Have I mentioned how much snow we have gotten this winter? This picture was taken Tuesday, after 2 days of almost 50 degree weather. |
Then on Wednesday, we got a ton of snow again, so our outdoor adventures came to a temporary end . . . but the parties were just starting! First, Michelle braved the snow to come over and help decorate for the Pi Day/Ides of March/Square Root of 10 Day/St. Patrick's party we decided to put on because we needed something to look forward to. Then, the missionaries came at 5 for dinner (thank goodness for crockpots!). Soon after they left, we went to a recital for Kevin's home teachee. It was lovely.
Thursday came around, and with it came the first of the activities I was really in charge of, dubbed "Ward Testimony Night." The idea was to have anyone with a conversion story come and write it down, and anyone else was welcome to come too. Not too complicated of an idea, but it still took a little bit of planning. And, because I was busy with other stuff, I kept trying to pawn off the planning to the ward mission leader (sorry Jon), who had to remind me that this was my thing (and then helped out in the nursery so that I had no choice but to conduct). So I took charge of it, and I think it went fine.
And then . . . the party! Here is my "gloppy" invitation:
We decided to keep the party a bit smaller because of limited space, but I sort of wished everyone could have come. Then again, it was a total nerd fest, starting with the decorations. We had ribbons with digits of pi streamed across the wall, streamers with digits of sqrt(10) wrapped around the banister (okay that was probably the biggest waste of my life ever), and garlands made of shamrocks and squares with Greek letters throughout the house. Oh, and quotes from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" on the walls, too.
And that was only the beginning of it all! People were instructed to come in togas, Irish clothes, or as a "square." Then, for dinner, we had pasta, even though I don't think ancient Romans had pasta. (It was easy.) During dinner, we talked about things like gerunds. Yep. Talking about gerunds has never been something I planned to do at a party, but I sure enjoyed it.
After dinner, we read excerpts from Julius Caesar, which was great because people really got into character. Then we had dessert -- pie for Pi Day of course, rainbow jello for St. Patrick's Day, and brownies for square root of 10 day, which someday I will convince the general populace to celebrate with me since pi is overrated.
After most everyone had left, those of us remaining decided to play the game where you say someone's name and the person in the middle tries to hit them with a newspaper before they say someone else's game. Except, we used Greek letters instead of names. It was hard! Then everyone went home, and the party was done . . .
Except it wasn't! There was still a baby shower I was half in charge of Saturday morning! I decided to make pumpkin bars for it late that night. Right before I woke up, I dreamed that I forgot to put the baking soda in. Then I woke up and realized that was true. Oh well. People still ate them.
But yeah, the baby shower! It was actually the 3rd I've helped plan this winter. I guess when you visit teach pregnant women, that's what happens. :) It ended up being a really, really nice shower, and I can't really take credit for it other than making an Evite invitation, providing un-baking-soda-ed pumpkin bars, and hanging up a piece of yarn or two for decoration.
And then, after the lights were turned off and the doors were locked, my random party planning extravaganza was done! There were still a few social things that we went to, like a poetry slam where I scared small children (mostly my own) by reading Pop Rocks and a St. Patrick's dinner we went to, but for the most part we've just sat around the house watching Pooh and enjoying the silence and decorations we will never take down.
So, anyway, here is the moral of the story:
1. Being busy is the best. Plus if you know people are coming over you keep the house cleaner, which feels better.
2. Parties are more fun to plan with people than by yourself. I don't really feel like I did all that much work because everything was a team effort.
That said, I don't mind taking a little break from party planning for a bit. :)
Monday, March 17, 2014
Neatness
This past weekend I was able to stay pretty busy with parties and activities that I was co-planner for. Among them was a little party celebrating Pi Day, the Ides of March, square root of 10 day (I may be the only person who celebrates that), and St. Patrick's Day. (I'll probably share pictures and details in a later post.) As we split up the assignments for the party, I decided to take on the task of invitations.
It was actually a lot of fun making them! I made up a silly poem about all the holidays on one side of the invitation and had a four-leaf clover on the other side with party details. But as it came time to put it all together, I came to a sad realization:
I didn't know how to use glue anymore.
I mean, of course I knew the basics, but I forgot what kind of quantities are needed for thin pieces of paper. Despite my best efforts, each invitation turned out a various stage of gloppy. Then, I decided that the invitation needed glitter glue. Turns out I knew even less about that -- how long it takes to dry, how to make it actually follow the shape of the clover, etc. At the end, each invitation looked basically like a kid in grade school could have made it. (I sure got a lot of points for creativity, though!)
Seeing my masterpieces took me back to the end of 4th grade. We were doing some project on pioneers which involved neat handwriting and good drawings of covered wagons and lots and lots of glue. "You need to practice being neat," said Mrs. Bolton. "5th graders are always very neat."
Except, we weren't. Throughout the year, we would be reminded, "Practice your neatness. Middle-schoolers are always very neat."
Except, we weren't. Furthermore, we hardly ever even used glue anymore. Handwriting counted for less and less as we started to turn in typed essays more and more. By the time I got to college, I only had one class where neatness really counted, and only one class where I ever used a glue stick (working on lab reports).
So, were all of those elementary school art projects a waste of time? Oh, probably. I mean, I clearly forgot everything I ever learned, and I clearly haven't used glue much since then.
But then, I guess it taught me something -- "Neatness counts . . . eventually." Maybe not in 5th grade, or 6th grade, or college, or being a mom, but eventually it will count toward my grade. So it's a nice goal to work toward, but nothing to get hung up on.
In the meantime, I will just rack up as many points for creativity as I can.
It was actually a lot of fun making them! I made up a silly poem about all the holidays on one side of the invitation and had a four-leaf clover on the other side with party details. But as it came time to put it all together, I came to a sad realization:
I didn't know how to use glue anymore.
I mean, of course I knew the basics, but I forgot what kind of quantities are needed for thin pieces of paper. Despite my best efforts, each invitation turned out a various stage of gloppy. Then, I decided that the invitation needed glitter glue. Turns out I knew even less about that -- how long it takes to dry, how to make it actually follow the shape of the clover, etc. At the end, each invitation looked basically like a kid in grade school could have made it. (I sure got a lot of points for creativity, though!)
Seeing my masterpieces took me back to the end of 4th grade. We were doing some project on pioneers which involved neat handwriting and good drawings of covered wagons and lots and lots of glue. "You need to practice being neat," said Mrs. Bolton. "5th graders are always very neat."
Except, we weren't. Throughout the year, we would be reminded, "Practice your neatness. Middle-schoolers are always very neat."
Except, we weren't. Furthermore, we hardly ever even used glue anymore. Handwriting counted for less and less as we started to turn in typed essays more and more. By the time I got to college, I only had one class where neatness really counted, and only one class where I ever used a glue stick (working on lab reports).
So, were all of those elementary school art projects a waste of time? Oh, probably. I mean, I clearly forgot everything I ever learned, and I clearly haven't used glue much since then.
But then, I guess it taught me something -- "Neatness counts . . . eventually." Maybe not in 5th grade, or 6th grade, or college, or being a mom, but eventually it will count toward my grade. So it's a nice goal to work toward, but nothing to get hung up on.
In the meantime, I will just rack up as many points for creativity as I can.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Enchiladas
This recipe is from my friend Liz, but I love it so much I kind of want to claim it as my own.
Why do I like it, when I usually don't care about enchiladas? I think it's the sauce on top. The spices added to a salsa just make it so good! And hey, the filling's not bad either.
Here is the recipe:
Chicken Enchiladas – Serves 4
To make the filling and wrapping:
4 or 5 tortillas
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into cubes (I usually end up using about 1 large boneless chicken breast or 2 smaller ones)
½ onion, chopped
½ C. sour cream (or ¼ C, just depends on how creamy you want the filling to be)
½ C. cream of chicken soup
½ C. shredded cheddar cheese, + some extra for the topping
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Saute onions with chicken in a skillet. Then, add all other ingredients (except tortillas!). Put filling into tortillas, roll up, then pour sauce (see below) over top. Sprinkle with leftover cheddar cheese.
3. Cook for ~20 minutes.
To make the sauce:
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
¼ C. water
3 tsp. chili powder
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 C. onion, grated
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried parsley
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried basil
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ C. salsa
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a large sauce pan, sauté garlic and onion ~ 1 min. Add all other ingredients, then remove from heat once mixed.
Notes from me:
I tend to like less sour cream, so I use the 1/4 cup option. I once tried using yogurt instead, and it just didn't work right, so don't try that.
One important thing is to cook the chicken right. Kevin is a master at that! The trick is to watch it, basically. I guess you should use a meat thermometer if you don't want to risk underdoneness, which is much worse than overdoneness. But really, since we started caring about not overcooking chicken, we've enjoyed it so much more.
And that's that!
Why do I like it, when I usually don't care about enchiladas? I think it's the sauce on top. The spices added to a salsa just make it so good! And hey, the filling's not bad either.
Here is the recipe:
Chicken Enchiladas – Serves 4
To make the filling and wrapping:
4 or 5 tortillas
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into cubes (I usually end up using about 1 large boneless chicken breast or 2 smaller ones)
½ onion, chopped
½ C. sour cream (or ¼ C, just depends on how creamy you want the filling to be)
½ C. cream of chicken soup
½ C. shredded cheddar cheese, + some extra for the topping
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Saute onions with chicken in a skillet. Then, add all other ingredients (except tortillas!). Put filling into tortillas, roll up, then pour sauce (see below) over top. Sprinkle with leftover cheddar cheese.
3. Cook for ~20 minutes.
To make the sauce:
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
¼ C. water
3 tsp. chili powder
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 C. onion, grated
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried parsley
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. dried basil
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ C. salsa
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a large sauce pan, sauté garlic and onion ~ 1 min. Add all other ingredients, then remove from heat once mixed.
Notes from me:
I tend to like less sour cream, so I use the 1/4 cup option. I once tried using yogurt instead, and it just didn't work right, so don't try that.
One important thing is to cook the chicken right. Kevin is a master at that! The trick is to watch it, basically. I guess you should use a meat thermometer if you don't want to risk underdoneness, which is much worse than overdoneness. But really, since we started caring about not overcooking chicken, we've enjoyed it so much more.
And that's that!
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
The Story of a Lip
At the beginning of December, I noticed a funny looking bump on Joseph's lip. I figured it was a canker sore and that it would go away soon.
But it didn't. All throughout Christmas break, I monitored it, desperately hoping it would go away soon. Sometimes it would seem to be going away, and then it would pop up again with a vengeance. By the time we got back to Michigan, I was resigned to the fact that we'd have to call the doctor about it. As soon as we all recovered from nasty colds, I set up a check-up for Joseph and it was determined that the pediatricians had no clue what it was either, so they said they'd set up an appointment with oral and maxillofacial surgery to check it out.
Well, when I heard the magic word "maxillofacial" (Blogger doesn't even recognize it and wants me to replace it with "axiomatically") I remembered that a member of our ward is in that area, so when I saw him at church I had him briefly check it out and he said it was a mucous cyst. Easy to remove. For surgeons, that is. He talked to his secretaries and with the combined efforts of both him and the doctor's office, we got an appointment scheduled in a timely manner.
But then one night later that week (this is still early January, by the way), it was just not looking good. It looked painful and red and everything you don't want to see in your son's mouth. So I asked if maybe we could go in that day. I was wondering if they might even remove it that day. They said it still looked fine, and we couldn't remove it anyway because Joseph is little enough that they'd have to put him under for the surgery and he'd already had breakfast. So we visited the procedural readiness center and then went home to wait for the surgery.
It took a loooooooong time. Naively, I had expected it to be a week or two later, forgetting about insurance and scheduling and general busyness at hospitals, so I was pretty impatient. After a few weeks of waiting, I called the office again, letting them know that our insurance had sent us an approval, and had they heard anything from insurance on their end yet? Nope. Weeks passed, and the cyst grew uglier and uglier (though, luckily, it never seemed to bother Joseph too much), and then we finally got the anticipated phone call! The earliest they could schedule this was in March.
And my heart sunk a little. It wasn't just that Joseph's lip was so ugly. It was that he needed to be cold and cough free, and from the sound of it, he needed to be healthy for the entire month before his surgery (I never verified that, but that's the impression I got). I had spent the last month essentially quarantining us so we could be ready at a moment's notice, and now I had three more weeks of cold prevention. Considering that our family had caught a cold every month since last March (we even had a title for the cold -- the COM, or cold of the month), I didn't know how we could avoid colds any more. Life with toddlers can be kind of germy, after all.
Well. Somehow we made it! I'm not one to usually call things "tender mercies of the Lord," but this certainly qualifies, especially considering how many kids with runny noses we bumped into there at the end of the wait. Last night as we put Joseph to bed, still healthy, I felt a huge sense of relief and liberation. I'm not saying I want him to go out and catch every cold out there now, but I feel a lot less stressed about it than I did last week.
Since the surgery was early the next morning, we went to bed earlier than normal too. As we were trying to convince our bodies we were tired enough to actually go to sleep, the heater turned on.
"Do you smell something?" Kevin asked me. I did. It was a strange, burning smell. Oh, great. We had had a gas leak last winter. We had had our furnace break during one of the coldest nights of January. We had heard tragic stories of asphyxiation recently. Were we going to have to deal with something that smelled like burning rubber this night of all nights?
Kevin went downstairs to check on the furnace. I called to him but never heard an answer, so I rushed down, wondering if he had passed out and I would have to drag him to fresh air somehow. Nope. He just hadn't heard me. When I went down I was overpowered with the smell of cooked onions.
The longer we smelled it, the less we thought it was a noxious gas of some sort and the more we thought it was our neighbors cooking onions and the smell being spread through heater vents (stranger things have happened). Kevin went outside to check -- there was definitely cooking going on. So we went to sleep with the mystery solved and woke up ready for surgery!
After all of the hullabaloo getting to this point, the surgery itself was thankfully very uneventful. Joseph was calm through all the pre-op stuff, even when a cold stethoscope touched his skin (usually that's the point when he starts crying at the doctor). After a few questions and a few vitals, they gave him some calming medicine, put him on a bed, and whisked him away to an operating room for a short surgery. When they called us back to him, he was sitting on someone's lap calmly. She handed him to me, and he immediately pulled off his stat monitor. "Well, I guess he doesn't need that anymore!" the nurse laughed. "Just don't let him pull the IV out!" Which was, naturally, the thing he went for next. "No no no!" I said gently, but I guess not gently enough because he started to sob. Loudly. For a long time. Kevin and I took turns trying to console him, but nothing worked except apple juice and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse they turned on for him. And even then, he would burst out crying frequently. Finally though, they took the IV out and we got him dressed, and then we went home!
And, by this afternoon, except for a few stitches on the inside of his lip, you would think nothing had ever happened.
The end.
(Oh, and if this post was too long, here's a pretty accurate summary:)
Oh ps -- here are pictures if you are really that interested. If you're not, then I will make it as easy as possible for you to not see them. Just don't scroll down! (But, of course, if you do scroll down and then share this with 5 friends, in 25 minutes your dreams will come true. If you share this with 10 friends, in 20 minutes your dreams will come true, and you'll win lotteries you didn't even know you entered. If you share this with 15 friends, the person of your dreams will knock on your door. Etc.)
and after!
But it didn't. All throughout Christmas break, I monitored it, desperately hoping it would go away soon. Sometimes it would seem to be going away, and then it would pop up again with a vengeance. By the time we got back to Michigan, I was resigned to the fact that we'd have to call the doctor about it. As soon as we all recovered from nasty colds, I set up a check-up for Joseph and it was determined that the pediatricians had no clue what it was either, so they said they'd set up an appointment with oral and maxillofacial surgery to check it out.
Well, when I heard the magic word "maxillofacial" (Blogger doesn't even recognize it and wants me to replace it with "axiomatically") I remembered that a member of our ward is in that area, so when I saw him at church I had him briefly check it out and he said it was a mucous cyst. Easy to remove. For surgeons, that is. He talked to his secretaries and with the combined efforts of both him and the doctor's office, we got an appointment scheduled in a timely manner.
But then one night later that week (this is still early January, by the way), it was just not looking good. It looked painful and red and everything you don't want to see in your son's mouth. So I asked if maybe we could go in that day. I was wondering if they might even remove it that day. They said it still looked fine, and we couldn't remove it anyway because Joseph is little enough that they'd have to put him under for the surgery and he'd already had breakfast. So we visited the procedural readiness center and then went home to wait for the surgery.
§
It took a loooooooong time. Naively, I had expected it to be a week or two later, forgetting about insurance and scheduling and general busyness at hospitals, so I was pretty impatient. After a few weeks of waiting, I called the office again, letting them know that our insurance had sent us an approval, and had they heard anything from insurance on their end yet? Nope. Weeks passed, and the cyst grew uglier and uglier (though, luckily, it never seemed to bother Joseph too much), and then we finally got the anticipated phone call! The earliest they could schedule this was in March.
And my heart sunk a little. It wasn't just that Joseph's lip was so ugly. It was that he needed to be cold and cough free, and from the sound of it, he needed to be healthy for the entire month before his surgery (I never verified that, but that's the impression I got). I had spent the last month essentially quarantining us so we could be ready at a moment's notice, and now I had three more weeks of cold prevention. Considering that our family had caught a cold every month since last March (we even had a title for the cold -- the COM, or cold of the month), I didn't know how we could avoid colds any more. Life with toddlers can be kind of germy, after all.
Well. Somehow we made it! I'm not one to usually call things "tender mercies of the Lord," but this certainly qualifies, especially considering how many kids with runny noses we bumped into there at the end of the wait. Last night as we put Joseph to bed, still healthy, I felt a huge sense of relief and liberation. I'm not saying I want him to go out and catch every cold out there now, but I feel a lot less stressed about it than I did last week.
§
Since the surgery was early the next morning, we went to bed earlier than normal too. As we were trying to convince our bodies we were tired enough to actually go to sleep, the heater turned on.
"Do you smell something?" Kevin asked me. I did. It was a strange, burning smell. Oh, great. We had had a gas leak last winter. We had had our furnace break during one of the coldest nights of January. We had heard tragic stories of asphyxiation recently. Were we going to have to deal with something that smelled like burning rubber this night of all nights?
Kevin went downstairs to check on the furnace. I called to him but never heard an answer, so I rushed down, wondering if he had passed out and I would have to drag him to fresh air somehow. Nope. He just hadn't heard me. When I went down I was overpowered with the smell of cooked onions.
The longer we smelled it, the less we thought it was a noxious gas of some sort and the more we thought it was our neighbors cooking onions and the smell being spread through heater vents (stranger things have happened). Kevin went outside to check -- there was definitely cooking going on. So we went to sleep with the mystery solved and woke up ready for surgery!
§
After all of the hullabaloo getting to this point, the surgery itself was thankfully very uneventful. Joseph was calm through all the pre-op stuff, even when a cold stethoscope touched his skin (usually that's the point when he starts crying at the doctor). After a few questions and a few vitals, they gave him some calming medicine, put him on a bed, and whisked him away to an operating room for a short surgery. When they called us back to him, he was sitting on someone's lap calmly. She handed him to me, and he immediately pulled off his stat monitor. "Well, I guess he doesn't need that anymore!" the nurse laughed. "Just don't let him pull the IV out!" Which was, naturally, the thing he went for next. "No no no!" I said gently, but I guess not gently enough because he started to sob. Loudly. For a long time. Kevin and I took turns trying to console him, but nothing worked except apple juice and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse they turned on for him. And even then, he would burst out crying frequently. Finally though, they took the IV out and we got him dressed, and then we went home!
And, by this afternoon, except for a few stitches on the inside of his lip, you would think nothing had ever happened.
 |
| Except, of course, that he now likes to wear necklaces on his head |
(Oh, and if this post was too long, here's a pretty accurate summary:)
Oh ps -- here are pictures if you are really that interested. If you're not, then I will make it as easy as possible for you to not see them. Just don't scroll down! (But, of course, if you do scroll down and then share this with 5 friends, in 25 minutes your dreams will come true. If you share this with 10 friends, in 20 minutes your dreams will come true, and you'll win lotteries you didn't even know you entered. If you share this with 15 friends, the person of your dreams will knock on your door. Etc.)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>> Keep on scrolling!
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>97% of you won't try this because you hate dreams
>>>>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>
>
>
>>>>The first 10 pixels will shock you. The next 23344 pixels will amaze you. Then just wait until pixel 254353.
>>>>The first 10 pixels will shock you. The next 23344 pixels will amaze you. Then just wait until pixel 254353.
>
>
>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Okay, enough of that nonsense. I hope you enjoyed that journey back to 2003 with me. You have no excuses now. If you're here, then you really want to see this.
Before:
Usta!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)