SugarHouse Mama

San Diego Zoo

2010-12-31T22:09:00.017-07:00

We spent New Years Eve day at the San Diego Zoo with Tom and the kids. It was a blast and the kids had so much fun.

Jacob was a doll - he was so excited about all the different animals.... until nap time, that is.

Adjoa loves spending time with her cousins, especially Brandon. Over Thanksgiving, they had a love/hate relationship that can only happen between a 4 year old and a 5 year old. She was, of course, thrilled that she would get to see Brandon again.

Here's some shots at the zoo. I took them with my blackberry, so the quality isn't the best.

Oh well.

Riding a hippo with Jacob and Madison. Brave kids!

Getting a seal's eye view of the tourists. Maddie, Tom, Seal, Adjoa, Jacob, Robert.

Caterpillar and Butterfly. Pretty accurate, don't you think?

The petting zoo was a big hit. Adjoa is determined to have a goat.

Practicing her animal husbandry skills. The goat seems to be faring quite well.

Adjoa, Jacob, and Maddie feeding the goat.

I love this picture! Jacob got a kick out the how the goats eat. He thought it was sooooo funny.

Family Pictures, Depot Style

2010-12-30T12:43:00.020-07:00

We had our family pictures taken a couple weeks ago, but I had to keep it on the down-low because they were presents for family.

I went with a retro-train station theme. Not intentionally or anything. It just turned out that I liked the location and our outfits had a retro twist. Not so much with Robert. I probably couldn't get him to wear a hat or a skinny tie if I had even bothered to ask. But hey, gray and white is timeless enough to blend. Plus, you don't want it too styled or you start to become one of THOSE families. And I'm crazy enough.

Here's a few of the pics. Adjoa was, of course, simply adorable to totally photogenic.

Thanks Cathy!

Early Christmas

2010-12-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

We are doing Christmas early this year, since we will be in San Diego until after New Years. I was not about to load up a bunch of presents so Santa could come on Christmas Day. I explained to Adjoa that we would be gone for Christmas.

A: "Oh NO! How will Santa know where we are?"
M: "Well. Mommy is really smart. I told Santa we would be gone, and do you know what? He's just going to come early to our house!"

We had some friends who were very concerned about Christmas coming early. Well, the mother was concerned. She didn't want Adjoa to tell her kids that Santa already came and have her kids freak out. So I told Adjoa that this was a special arrangement and that Santa was coming early. Adjoa's too young to really understand that it's not Christmas day, so the explanation was more for the benefit of other people. And in case Adjoa said she already had Christmas, I didn't want any problems with other kids or their parents.

Anyway, we planned on having Christmas a couple days before we have to leave for San Diego so she has some time to play with her awesome haul.

It's sort of a Barbie Christmas this year. Which was fun for me. I must admit, I've missed Barbie. Chambra and I used to play Barbies for hours, I swear. It's pretty much the main thing I remember about childhood. So maybe Adjoa's Christmas is a way for me to share something I loved when I was a kid, or maybe it's an excuse for me to play with Barbies again. Probably, it's a little of both.

Adjoa's Christmas pile. I totally love the dollhouse. It was from my dad and it's the bee's knees. It's wooden, has great colors, and is perfect for super-cool Barbie. Adjoa is in love with it and wanted to take it to San Diego. Sorry, girl. That's exactly why we are doing Christmas early.

Perfect picture to capture the early morning excitement of Christmas. You KNOW you should still be in bed, and you're uber tired, but IT'S CHRISTMAS!

Get ready for the cheese. This is the best Christmas present I could ask for. Adjoa's smile melts me every time. She is beautiful, sweet, kind, and always tries her best. She's totally awesome. And I feel perfectly fine bragging about her because I was not at all responsible for any of it! She's just a doll and it had nothing to do with me. My job is to try to help her stay that way!

Merry Christmas!

Adjoa's First Tithing

2010-12-12T18:46:00.012-07:00

We had tithing settlement today, and it was Adjoa's first time paying tithing. She has a little bank and has been saving her money all year.

She puts her tithing in one bank, her savings in another bank, and spending money in a third bank.

Adjoa was so excited to count out her money. I helped her fill out her tithing slip and she loaded up the envelope with all her coins.

When we visited with the bishop, he asked if she knew what would happen to her money. She said, "They will build a temple with my money!"

So cute.

Christmas Program

2010-12-10T22:28:00.010-07:00

Adjoa's Christmas Program was today. I missed the program last year, so I was super excited for this one. Of course, it was adorable. Santa came for a visit, and Adjoa asked for a "fluffy unicorn." That should be easy enough for Santa.

What do you want for Christmas, little girl? "Um. I want a fluffy hunicorn."

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

2010-12-08T23:34:00.001-07:00

Adjoa drew this picture of Rudolph. Rudolph is trying to find Santa's lost shoe. In case you were wondering, Rudolph DID find Santa's lost shoe. So no worries there.

I Lost My Mommy

2010-12-02T13:03:00.019-07:00

Every night I tuck Adjoa into bed, then go about my evening business: folding laundry, doing dishes, checking email, you know. After I get ready for bed, I usually peek in and tuck her in again and kiss her goodnight.

So the other night I was tucking her in and kissing her goodnight and she sits stright up in bed. She looks around and says "Mommy! Mommy!"

Me: I'm right here, Adjoa.
Adjoa: Where's my mommy?
Me: I'm right here, sweetheart.

Adjoa lifts up her pillow, looks under it, and says, "Oh no! I lost my mommy!"

At this point I realize she's still totally asleep, even though she's sitting up, moving around, and talking. She lays back down and I tuck her in, laughing to myself because if I were lost, I'm sure I'd be hidden under Adjoa's pillow.

Adjoa. Self Potrait of a 4 Year Old.

2010-12-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

Adjoa has been talking about eating healthy the last month at school. She has learned about the food groups, and which foods are healthy for your body.

She drew this picture of herself when she eats healthy food. I love the blonde hair!

Reason #152 Why Kids Should Never Grow Up....

2010-11-30T12:39:00.002-07:00

They stop saying all those adorable things!

I think it's so cute that kids say things incorrectly when they are little. It's one of the things I wish I could freeze. This is my way of freezing Adjoa for a bit.

Cute things Adjoa used to say:

"Blubbing" As in, "Mommy look! I cut my finger and it's blubbing! I need a bandaid to stop the blubbing."
"Solly" instead of Sorry
"Clazy" instead of Crazy. We still say this one at home sometimes. "You are CLaazy!"
"Junso" instead of pee. This one comes from Ghana. "Mommy, I jusnoed the bed." "Hurry! Or I will junso my pants!"
"Honly" instead of Only.
"Hunicorn" instead of Unicorn.
"Hand-Foot-Plints." As in, "Mommy, I traced my hand. This is my hand-foot-plint." She will still say thins sometimes instead of "Hand-Print".

Thanksgiving Hike

2010-11-25T23:16:00.046-07:00

Robert's family has a tradition of hiking Flat Rock at Thanksgiving.

We met up with some family members that morning and went for a little stroll before gorging ourselves on turkey. Adjoa was very concerned that we would miss "The Feast". She never once referred to the holiday as Thanksgiving, it was always, "how long until we have our feast?"

She was stuck like glue to grandpa's side and followed everywhere he went. After we hiked down to the beach, she followed him on a stroll to look for seashells.

Checking out the view with grandpa. I'm not sure Adjoa can even see over the trees!

Hiking down to Flat Rock.

Heading off to chase down Grandpa. He almost got away for a minute!

Taking a stroll along the beach with Grandpa, keeping an eye out for seashells and cool rocks.

The tide was really high, so this is about as close as we could get to Flat Rock. Right after Robert proposed, we came out to Flat Rock on a hike and Tom took some pictures of us. We thought we should re-visit the moment.

Happy Anniversary! Four years later with our little family.

Adjoa showing off the seashells she found on her beach walk.

This is Adjoa's idea of following Grandpa's advice to be careful.

Brandon and Adjoa had fun testing each other's throwing limits. Jacob soon joined in, but it was pretty easy to out-throw a 2 year old. I think this was the beginning of the Brandon and Adjoa romance that lasted our entire visit. Brandon declared his love to Adjoa and insisted she marry him. When she told him she was going to marry JJ (a boy from school) he sighed, "ok. But if he says 'no' then you have to come back and marry me." Later Amber overheard Brandon declare the depth of his love in the way only a 5-year old boy can: "Adjoa, you can punch me and you can make me bleed, but I will still love you!"

Practicing a princess pose.

This is a Fairy House. Just in case you were wondering.

Disneyland... Anniversary Style

2010-11-22T11:47:00.041-07:00

We took Adjoa to Disneyland for her first visit. Everyone always says this, but Disneyland with kids is a whole different experience. She LOVED it. And she was convinced that everyone was real in Pirates of the Caribbean. She wanted to go on it again and again and kept saying, "look mommy! That man is still sitting there! He should go home."

I encouraged it. What can I say? You don't have very many years when you just simply believe.

Of course she was all about getting her autograph book signed. We did the breakfast at the park one of the mornings, and she got to meet a lot of classic characters then. Actually, I was a big fan of the breakfast and I think we would do it again next time.

Adjoa's favorite ride was "the train" aka Thunder Mountain, and her favorite character was, of course, Ariel.

On our second day there we ran into my cousin and his family. We were actually in the same line for the same ride at the same time. Totally crazy. You could be in the park for days and never run into someone like that. We spent the day with them, and Adjoa loved it. Having two more girls to enjoy the magic with sure made a difference to her.

We also met up with Kevin and Gail and Hayden enjoyed showing Adjoa all his favorite rides. Those two are so funny together. Adjoa is looking forward to playing with Hayden again on our next visit. And of course, Karen met up with us while we were there. You can't live in LA and miss your niece's first Disneyland experience, after all. Adjoa even got to have a sleep over at Karen's apartment - something she was looking forward to for weeks.

Thanks to everyone who made our Disneyland trip a fun one!

Ariel Is Adjoa's all time favorite. The Little Mermaid was the first movie she saw when she came home and she memorized the songs almost immediately! Adjoa was so busy staring at the princesses, I don't think she every really looked at the camera!

Adjoa and Karen on It's a Small World. Our first ride at Disneyland. Adjoa was mesmerized. It was so cute. Around Christmas, they have Small World all decked out for the holidays and each country sings a Christmas song from that area. It makes the ride more bearable. You aren't guaranteed to have the song stuck in your head for the rest of the day - more likely it will be a Christmas carol or two mixed with "It's a Small World". Great. Now I have that song stuck in my head....

Adjoa and Hayden in line for Thunder Mountain. At night, that ride is AWESOME. It's sooo dark you can't really see anything. The kids had a blast.

You probably can't read it, but I'm pointing to a Happy Anniversary pin we received at the gate. In case you didn't know, Robert proposed at Disneyland. This was our first time back since then!

Adjoa and Anika with Ariel. This was Adjoa's second time seeing Ariel, so I was able to get her to look at the camera, but I'm obviously intruding on her big princess hug.

Disneyland brings out the kid in everyone. Not that it's terribly hard to bring out the kid in Robert...

The Princesses taught Adjoa how to pose. She's practicing. She'll be practicing for months.

I think this picture of Adjoa and Woody is so funny. She's trying to mimic his stance. What cracks me up most is that Woody is soooo huge. It's like Adjoa is his toy.

Belle is my favorite princess. Again, I love the look on Adjoa's face. Pretty much every princess picture turned out like this. She couldn't take her eyes off of the princess. Funny girl.

Did Your Adopted Child have a Tough Start? It Matters

2010-11-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

I received this notification of some online classes offered by Adoption Learning Partners. I thought it particularly appropriate this month and wanted to share it with some families I know would love and appreciate the information.

It's so important to recognize some types of behaviors for what they are and what they are not. And sometimes it's very difficult as an adoptive parent to help your child work through things they don't even understand - or can't really even remember. Frankly, saying "you just need to love them" doesn't really cut it.

New Courses From ALP:

Does your child resist affection, lash out explosively or react unexpectedly to social situations?

He may be suffering from having experienced some form of trauma in his early days --- a "tough start" in life.

Many adopted children, whether adopted domestically or internationally, have lived through early days that were far from ideal. Poor prenatal care or substance exposure, or being born into a neglectful, chaotic or abusive environment are all examples of tough starts adopted children may have faced. Even if they are fortunate enough to come into a loving and nurturing home at just a few months of age, the effects of this tough start may linger in the form of persistent and troublesome behaviors. These behaviors are often so challenging that even experienced parents can feel puzzled, frustrated and even disheartened in their ability to raise this child.

Our Tough Starts Matter series is specifically designed to help. Each course offers research-based insights, practical advice and encouragement from experts who have dedicated their lives to helping tough start children and families thrive.

Brain Development Matters gives a thorough background on the impact that early trauma is likely to have had on a child's brain chemistry, brain development and sensory processing. As challenging behaviors often are rooted in altered brain development, this fundamental knowledge paves the way to more informed parenting choices. Learn More and see a preview from this course.

Treatment Matters provides strategies for seeking professional help. Learn about the benefits of an early diagnosis, treatment options and therapy approaches. Learn more and see a preview from this course.

Parenting Matters applies a strengths-based, therapeutic approach to helping parents connect in order to heal their child. The goal is to help parents respond to their child more insightfully, therefore shaping behavior more effectively. Learn more and see a preview from this course.

The individual courses in the Tough Starts Matter Series can also be purchased as a package with a 20% discount! Click Here to learn more.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Did-Your-Adopted-Child-Have-a-Tough-Start---It-Matters.html?soid=1101165322195&aid=J1IaEbdPheU

Cowpokes

2010-11-10T22:15:00.012-07:00

It was Western Days at Adjoa's school. She wore a hat Lil gave to her and selected a pink and green plaid shirt to wear. Hey, just because you are a tough "cowboy-girl" doesn't mean you can't wear pink.

This is her little buddy, JJ. They were in the same class last year too, and Adjoa LOVES JJ.

The first day of school she came home and said, "There is a boy and he is the same like me."

He is now fondly called "My JJ." Honestly, I think he's about the only boy in close competition to Prince Eric.

It's Football Not Handball

2010-11-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Or, if you live here, it's also known as Soccer. Either way, someone needs to teach my daughter the rules!

Ahh, MUCH better. She scores like a pro!

Adjoa did really well for her first season. It just ended and she was disappointed. For about 7 seconds. Then she informed us that she would be taking Ballet and Swimming Lessons. I tried on the swimming lessons, but there aren't very many people too keen on jumping in a pool when it's below freezing outside. Adjoa being an exception.

She starts ballet today {yeah}. I tried to suggest something more suitable to her body type, like gymnastics or another form of dance. She said she was sure she wanted to do Ballet. I figure, what heck, let her wear a tutu and be a ballerina while she can get away with it. All little girls deserve to wear a tutu and point their toes at some point. I even did. And I ain't got no ballerina body either!

Don't fret. I'll have pictures and vids up here soon enough. She does look awful cute in her leotard! And their spring performance promises to be be adorable. Do you hear me? A-DOR-A-BLE. You will all want to come. I can promise you that.

Soccer Mayhem

2010-10-27T12:35:00.000-06:00

Adjoa started soccer this fall. She is a fierce little tiger out there on the field. Or rather, DRAGON. Since that's their team name.

At this age, she has the blessing of being faster than everyone else {I hope she STAYS faster than the boys. I don't want one of those rascals catching my baby!}. She excels at stealing the ball away from the other team and driving it down the field. When it comes to scoring, her aim is a little off, but that's ok. It's her first time playing. She typically gets the ball down the field and another team member can help her score if she doesn't make it in.

She has been loving it. This Saturday is her last game until Spring comes around, and I haven't had the heart to tell her. I'll probably have to sign her up for something else to keep her busy during the winter months.

Here are a couple pictures I shot at the game last week. I've been bringing my camera, but I just get so in to the game I forget to take any pictures. I made myself snap a few in a hurry at the end of the previous game. They aren't the greatest pictures, so please excuse them. I was just too busy cheering!

Blocking out the other team so Max can score. Never mind they are halfway down the field!

Throwing elbows with the boys. Oops! That one is on your team!

Stealing the ball and making a fast break away.

Team cheer. GO DRAGONS!

I have an easy one for you: Which Came First - The Chicken or the Dinner?

2010-09-21T09:30:00.000-06:00

Adjoa's Hair 2

2010-09-07T17:39:00.000-06:00

I've had a couple requests for info on Adjoa's hair: products I like, etc.

Here's a quick run-down of what we have found that works really well for Adjoa's hair.

I pretty much never use shampoo on her hair. Nearly all shampoos strip oils, etc. from the hair {which is what you want if you have straight, white hair, but for black hair, you need those oils to moisturize and protect}. When we wash Adjoa's hair, I typically do a co-wash {conditioner wash}. It still cleans the hair, but does not strip the oils.

Occasionally I follow the co-wash with a deep conditioner treatment or even a leave-in. It just depends on the day and what her hair has been like lately. I have found that pretty much any natural conditioner works well at this stage, and by avoiding shampoo, you eliminate a lot of the synthetics that strip the hair. We have tried, and liked, some of Curly Q's products and various organic stuff from Whole Foods. I've also used natural or organic stuff from the baby isle at the grocery store.

Everything I've tried that I purchased at a salon or in the black hair care section I've been 100% dissatisfied with. Adjoa's hair looses it's shine and it more difficult to work when we use those products. Most also leave a film on her sleep caps or pillow cases that doesn't come out.

Miss Jessie's and Carol's Daughter get a lot of traction in the Natural Hair Care world, but a lot of their products aren't really "natural" or organic. I've found those products to be a little too hit and miss for the price. Some parents swear by them, but they are pricey and such a waste if you don't like them.

What I've done that I really like is make my own sprays, etc. We use coconut oil, shea butter, tea tree oil, olive oil, etc. here and there. I will typically put some conditioner in a spray bottle, add some water, and add one or two of the oils listed above. I spray that on Adjoa's hair as a moisturizer.

If I'm putting her hair in braids, I will typically use the coconut oil and apply it directly to her hair. I have found if I add the extra moisturizer or oil before I braid, the hair preforms so much better when the braids come out. I can usually even get a few days of a "twist out" or "braid out" if I have used an oil before I braid the hair.

Here are some of the websites, etc. that I like to visit:
http://www.happygirlhair.com/
http://www.afrobella.com/
http://motowngirl.com/

I LOVE youtube for hair care info. There are a TON of videos on natural hair care. I usually search "natural hair care" or "natural hair care styles". I can spend hours watching videos, jotting down other home-made recipes for hair care products, making lists of products, and checking out new hair styles.

People ask constantly how long it takes to do Adjoa's hair. Most styles {unless I have it loose for a bit} take about 2 hours. I pop in a movie for Adjoa, and we sit down for some mommy-daughter movie-hair bonding time.

She holds still better {which is crucial for me because I'm not used to these hair styles and haven't done most of them before} and she loves watching the movies. We have our moments. I get frustrated sometimes {usually at my own ineptitude} and she gets tired of sitting there. But she's always so proud of her hair and loves it so much when we are done.

Her favorite styles include beads and/or lots of colorful barrettes.

Personally, I think she looks beautiful no matter how her hair is styled, but I do love the afro. It speaks independence and pride to me. And it's the one style that white hair simply cannot do.

Adjoa's Hair

2010-08-28T14:02:00.000-06:00

So I received a comment on my blog about Adjoa's hair. It made me laugh, it was so stupid.

In case anyone else wants a justification from me, here I go.

I have spent HOURS researching the best hair care methods for black hair. I KNOW the hair care is different. Give me a break! I was researching about hair before Adjoa was even home with us.

I opted to do natural hair care for her. Most of the way black salons and many black women care for their hair is extremely damaging.

I use all natural products on her hair and we have a system that works wonderfully for her hair and our family. Part of that system involves an afro style every once in a while.

Anyone who has actually SEEN my child and her hair knows what good condition it's in. I have black people stop me in stores and make comments about how soft her hair is, and what great condition it's in. I have black mothers go out of their way to tell me what a good job I'm doing.

I'm proud of the care we take with her hair. We've experimented and some things work great, others don't.

I only ask 2 things before you pass judgment on my child's hair:

Look at more than a couple pictures of her. It's obvious we take care of her hair.
Look at her hair in person.

I guess I shouldn't be offended by it - it's been one uneducated comment in the 2 years I've been caring for her hair. I just feel if you are really trying to be helpful, you leave a name or contact info, or you suggest valuable help. Not just "AA hair is different than your hair and you need to care for it differently. You are damaging her hair."

Stupid.

Oh. And for the record, I have taken her to salons and had black women do her hair a couple times. When braiding, they pulled so hard I was worried about damage to the roots, and they put a bunch of chemicals on her hair that dry out and damage black hair. When I asked about natural products, they just gave me a blank stare. I figured I was better off with my Hair Care Yahoo Group, Youtube vids from women and mothers who care for their hair naturally, and reading books.

Besides that - she's FOUR YEARS OLD, PEOPLE. So what if her hair looks a little tired at the end of a day of playing.

Thanks for the rant. I just had to vent. Stupid things sometimes make me mad.

Where the World Wide Web Led Me Today

2010-08-27T21:20:00.004-06:00

I'm hosting our upcoming book club next week. We are reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, and it's been a while since I read it, so I thought I'd get started on some research. I spent an obscene amount of time on the World Wide Web, but found some fascinating things.

Here's the path my internet-based quest for information took me on today, as told in pictures - mostly.

Passover Chocolate Torte

Ingredients

1/2 cup pareve margarine
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
5 eggs, separated
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup ground almonds

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan with foil. Grease foil.

2.Melt margarine and chocolate over low heat. Stir until smooth and let cool.

3.In a medium-size mixing bowl, beat whites until stiff; about 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, beat together yolks and sugar until thick and pale; about 1 minute. Blend in chocolate mixture and stir in almonds. Fold in beaten whites, 1/3 at a time, into chocolate until no streaks of white remain. Scrape into prepared pan.

4.Place an 8 inch baking pan with 1 inch of water in it on the bottom rack of the oven (to make the torte more moist).

5.Bake torte on center rack at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until sides begin to pull away from pan and top is set in center. Cover the torte loosely with foil for the last 20 minutes of baking. Note: Don't worry if the cake cracks because the top will be on the bottom later.

6.Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes and then carefully remove sides of pan. Invert onto a serving plate and cool completely.

Apple-Cinnamon Farfel Kugel
Ingredients

1 cup hot water
1 cup matzo farfel
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large apples - peeled, cored and shredded
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

2.In a large bowl, combine the water and farfel. Add the sugar, apple, and cinnamon. Fold in the egg whites. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish and dust the top with more cinnamon.

3.Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 45 minutes.

Marginalia - Billy Collins

Sometimes the notes are ferocious,
skirmishes against the author
raging along the borders of every page
in tiny black script.
If I could just get my hands on you,
Kierkegaard, or Conor Cruise O'Brien,
they seem to say,
I would bolt the door and beat some logic into your head.

Other comments are more offhand, dismissive -
"Nonsense." "Please!" "HA!!" -
that kind of thing.
I remember once looking up from my reading,
my thumb as a bookmark,
trying to imagine what the person must look like
why wrote "Don't be a ninny"
alongside a paragraph in The Life of Emily Dickinson.

Students are more modest
needing to leave only their splayed footprints
along the shore of the page.
One scrawls "Metaphor" next to a stanza of Eliot's.
Another notes the presence of "Irony"
fifty times outside the paragraphs of A Modest Proposal.

Or they are fans who cheer from the empty bleachers,
Hands cupped around their mouths.
"Absolutely," they shout
to Duns Scotus and James Baldwin.
"Yes." "Bull's-eye." "My man!"
Check marks, asterisks, and exclamation points
rain down along the sidelines.

And if you have managed to graduate from college
without ever having written "Man vs. Nature"
in a margin, perhaps now
is the time to take one step forward.

We have all seized the white perimeter as our own
and reached for a pen if only to show
we did not just laze in an armchair turning pages;
we pressed a thought into the wayside,
planted an impression along the verge.

Even Irish monks in their cold scriptoria
jotted along the borders of the Gospels
brief asides about the pains of copying,
a bird signing near their window,
or the sunlight that illuminated their page-
anonymous men catching a ride into the future
on a vessel more lasting than themselves.

And you have not read Joshua Reynolds,
they say, until you have read him
enwreathed with Blake's furious scribbling.
Yet the one I think of most often,
the one that dangles from me like a locket,
was written in the copy of Catcher in the Rye
I borrowed from the local library
one slow, hot summer.
I was just beginning high school then,
reading books on a davenport in my parents' living room,
and I cannot tell you
how vastly my loneliness was deepened,
how poignant and amplified the world before me seemed,
when I found on one page

A few greasy looking smears
and next to them, written in soft pencil-
by a beautiful girl, I could tell,
whom I would never meet-
"Pardon the egg salad stains, but I'm in love."

- Billy Collins

Forgetfulness

And by this time my real life started catching up with me and it became necessary to abandon my beloved World Wide Web for the day and take my daughter to her first soccer practice.

Book club, I'm ready. And I will have either Passover Chocolate Torte or Apple-Cinnamon Farfel Kugel. As long as I can scavenenge all local ingredients.

Perhaps both. With a side of egg salad.

I Was Famous Yesterday

2010-08-26T14:02:00.043-06:00

It's true. I was famous yesterday. Oh, and Adjoa too. I suppose I should share my glory with her. I got an email from a friend informing me that there was a huge picture of me on page 2 of the Utah section of the Salt Lake Tribune. I checked it out online, and sure enough, there I was. Though not quiet as huge. Oh, and Adjoa too.

The story was about the Wasatch Community Gardens Fall Planting workshop that I attended and blogged about here. The photographer took about 5 pictures of Adjoa and asked for her name, etc. so I figured if there were any pictures to be seen, they would be of her. I didn't even realize I snuck into a couple pictures, too. Too bad the others of Adjoa didn't make the cut - there was a particularly funny one of her licking the garlic like it was a popsicle.

Anyway, here's the article and some of the pictures:

Fall gardening: Keep your green thumb year round

By alicia greenleigh
The Salt Lake Tribune
August 24, 2010 07:45PM

Summer may be coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean you have to put away the gardening gloves.

There are many hearty vegetables that thrive during autumn when cooler temperatures and less sunlight prevail. Local farmer Pete Rasmussen of Sandhill Farms in Eden says fall is the perfect time to plant leafy greens, root crops and garlic — his speciality.

“Many people think they can’t maintain a garden in the fall, but it’s a great opportunity to get some tasty crops,” he said. “Plus so many of these vegetables are high in antioxidants that they help build the immune system in preparation for winter.”

Cynda Donaldson, manager at Millcreek Gardens, agrees. “Some of the best spring gardens start in the fall.”

Before you put seeds in the ground, follow these tips for a successful fall garden:

Size and location • For first-time gardeners, Rasmussen recommends keeping it small. A 4-foot-by-8-foot area is ideal. Even though fall plants can make do with less light, it’s always best to give them maximum sun exposure. A south-facing plot is always best, Rasmussen said. But any sunny spot where plants can receive 6 to 8 hours of sunlight will work.

Soil • Remove all plants and debris from summer crops. If you’re starting fresh, make sure to aerate the ground and amend the dirt by adding a rich compost or manure available at local nurseries. Mulch is another good additive to keep the soil moist during the last days of summer.

Vegetables • Several vegetables thrive in fall weather, including kale, Swiss chard, spinach, arugula, cabbage, collard greens, leeks, Brussels sprouts, romaine lettuce, beets, radishes, carrots, turnips and garlic. Purchase seed packets or seedlings. Garlic plants sprout from individual cloves, and Rasmussen suggests buying garlic from nearby farms to ensure that you’re getting a mountain-hearty variety. Cloves from grocery stores may come from plants that thrive in non-mountainous conditions.

Planting • Sept. 1 through 15 is the best time to do your fall planting, while garlic can be planted between Sept. 20 and Oct. 20. Most vegetables take 30 to 60 days to mature. Follow spacing and depth instructions on seed packets. Individual garlic cloves should be planted six inches deep, and spaced six inches apart.

Watering • Follow the watering guide on back of seed packets. Keep soil evenly moist.

Harvest • For leafy greens, Rasmussen recommends cutting lower, mature leaves to allow the smaller inside leaves to keep growing. This ensures that the plant will keep producing throughout the season. Garlic grows for nine months and is harvested in the spring. Cure the herb by braiding the green stock and hanging to dry for two weeks.

Pest control • Plant a border of garlic around the garden. Its potent smell will help keep bugs and furry animals away.

Weeding • Familiarize yourself with weeds that grow along the Wasatch Front, so you don’t accidentally cultivate the wrong plant. Books to help you identify weeds and plants are available at nurseries and local libraries.

Copyright 2010 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For the record. I followed Pete's advise to the 'T and already have my seedlings planted. Pete gave Adjoa a garlic clove, and although I tried to cook it up a couple times, she INSISTED we save it to plant. She planted her garlic alongside the kale, swiss chard, carrots, and other veggies. She's so proud of "her garden." She keeps telling me that it is for her. No one else can eat from her garden. "Just Adjoa. And Mommy. And Daddy. But not Eden!" She'll be so excited when everything starts sprouting.

Here's a few pictures from the article of Pete's farm and produce. Isn't it beautiful? I love the garlic!

Peeping Mom

2010-08-25T12:52:00.000-06:00

Yes. I consider myself the mother of my Six Chicks. Dirty Gerty: she's like my foster child.

I've been lurking around the coop a lot lately. The egg laying business is so interesting to me. That and my girls are so funny. Better than TV. Almost. It really depends on how hot it is outside.

We have 4 girls now laying. A new egg showed up yesterday, and I'm pretty sure it was Cinderella's first.

I snapped some pictures of the girls taking care of business and got a quick video, too.

Here's Dirty Gerty lounging in the basil. She lounges a lot. Hence the dirt.

Johnny Cash, strutting through the rose bed. The girls LOVE the roses. The light catches her feathers just right, and you can see the green and blue cast to the black feathers. I think she's gorgeous. Her eggs are a light buff, very pretty.

The girls are waiting in line. We have 3 nesting boxes, but they love the center one. It's prime real estate for young eggs. They are so curious, and really quite supportive. They all gather around when it's egg laying time. I went out to check on them, and they were all lined up. Bunny, the lighter Easter Egger in the center is not laying yet. I think she's just taking notes so she can do it right.

I had to take a quick video of this. Ariel hopped up into the box with Johnny Cash. Technically, Ariel was in the box first, cozying up, getting ready to lay, and Johnny Cash, who's been laying a couple days longer than Ariel, kicked her out. Ariel waited patiently for a bit, then jumped up into the box too. You can hear her cooing softly to Johnny Cash. It was so funny to me - it reminded me of the encouragement you give to a mother in labor. Funny girls. It's a little hard to hear sometimes, it was pretty windy, and a couple cars drove by.

Anyway. I love my girls and I love their eggs. The eggs are getting a bit bigger every day - soon we'll have full sized eggs from our cluck-clucks!

Adjoa loves the chickens, too. Every evening we go outside to let them roam a bit and play with them. Adjoa carries them around. This particular night, she was dancing with the chickens and singing an "egg song." I had complained to Robert that I hadn't yet heard an egg song from the girls. Adjoa beamed and started making up some song about eggs and chickens and spontaneously choreographed a dance involving several of the chickens. I guess I've heard an egg song now!

Why I Love it When Adjoa's in School

2010-08-24T10:43:00.000-06:00

I get to be surprised with awesome works of art, generally accompanied with funny stories.

Here are two she did over a brief summer-school stint.

This is her Space Alien Friend. She had this really elaborate story about how she was going to be an "astrononaut" and how she was going to go up to space, and how mommy and daddy would come with her because then she wouldn't be all alone, and we better take Eden too, because who would feed Eden if we were all in space? And on and on. She never really got to the part of the story where we meet her Space Alien Friend.

Here's her Hula Dancer. She informed me that the Hula Dancer lives in Hawaii, just like Nana and Pa. And in Hawaii, there is the ocean, and they have a party and they eat a big piggie. Pretty accurate summation of the Hawaiian culture. I couldn't have said it better myself!

I can't wait to see the things she brings home this year! She's developing so fast and loves to learn. We are so proud of her!

Wow, that's FRESH!

2010-08-19T10:18:00.000-06:00

So we were finally able to enjoy our first tomato of the season. The was only one ready, so I sliced it up, drizzled some EVOO and sprinkled some salt. Was yummy.

Adjoa picked up a slice, took a delicate bite, then exclaimed, "wow! That's FRESH!"

Robert and I snickered for a second and then I said, "You're right, Adjoa. It IS fresh."

The next night I sliced up a GIANT cucumber that had been hiding in the depths of the garden. I bathed the sliced in lemon juice, and again, sprinkled on some kosher salt. Adjoa picked up a slice, sniffed it, then stuck the whole thing in her mouth {much less delicately than when she ate the tomato}. After she managed to chew and swallow the cucumber, she picked up another slice, held it above her mouth, declared "DelicEEEous Muchias!" and then gobbled up another slice.

I love this kid! And I love that she appreciates and recognizes food that is delicEEEous Muchias!

It's OK that I Don't Have Tomatoes... I Have EGGS!

2010-08-16T21:24:00.000-06:00

Our girls are about 4.5 months old, so even though I've been shamelessly checking the nesting boxes, I haven't really been expecting any eggs for another couple weeks. At least.

Robert was adding some more fanciness to the coop and dropped a screw. He bent down to find it and instead he found... you guessed it. An EGG! He was pretty excited and came in to share the moment with me. {How sweet!}

One of our girls left it sitting comfortably under the raised part of the coop. As I walked around the coop to figure out how I was going to get that thing out, I spotted a little nest of 3 more eggs!

My cluck-clucks have been BUSY!

All four eggs are green, so I'm guessing they are gifts from one of the Easter Eggers. It's also possible that both girls have been blessing us with eggs since there appeared to be two different nests on opposite sides of the coop.

They seem small. Tiny, actually. So at first I thought our Seabright Bantum was leaving us treasures, but I doubt they lay green eggs. Is a mystery.

So here are a couple glamour shots for you to enjoy.

All four beauties. The one on the top right is lighter and was the single egg. So maybe Bunny {the lighter EE} left that one for us?!?!?

Here's one egg next to a regular store-bought egg. It looks so much smaller!

Maybe "Extra Large" on the egg carton, really does mean XL. If this egg is from my EE, I can't imagine the size of bird that laid the store-bought egg! Ouch!

Fall Planting - My First REAL post for WCG!

2010-08-13T13:48:00.000-06:00

Here's the link to my first REAL post for Wasatch Community Gardens. It's on fall planting. Never mind that I have NEVER planted a thing in the fall {or rather a thing that is edible - I've planted loads of plants in the fall what with our constant landscaping updates and revisions. This year I will even be trans-planting some plants in the fall}.

So anyway, check it out. Share any fall planting tips you may or may not have, and at the very least leave a comment and say hello! We're really working hard to promote the community gardens and the vast array of resources available to the community. Oh, and of course, yummy food. We like to promote yummy food too!

Guest Blogger for Wasatch Community Gardens

2010-08-12T18:20:00.001-06:00

I was asked to be a guest blogger for Wasatch Community Gardens. And by guest, they mean contribute on a regular basis {yikes!}.

Check out my intro post and leave me a comment. Unless you are going to contest the fact that I am "experienced." For bloggin' purposes, WCG will take my one full season of gardening as experience. Lucky me.

Anyhoo, I'll be posting regularly over there, so check it out and subscribe to the feeds. {It's also worth subscribing to because the other guests actually DO know a lot about gardening!}

Oh, and if anyone has tips on working with wordpress, I'm open to suggestions!

Here a Chick, There a Chick, My Six Chicks are now Seven

2010-08-12T11:34:00.001-06:00

Technically, hens shouldn't be able to reproduce, but the six chicks have expanded. {I guess life does mimic art - or entertaining movies at the very least.}

After a traumatic wiener-dog attack, my cousin's chicks perished in battle. There was one lone survivor, and Jeremy just didn't feel like building a coop for a single chicken.

So we brought her home. Our Six Chicks picked on her a little at first, but we gave her space to escape and she grew quickly. Now that she's the same size, the pecking and chasing have stopped.

Robert has been feeling neglected on the blog. He works so hard to build everything on my list - the list keep growing - and I haven't displayed his handiwork for a while.

So here's a tribute to the work he did on the coop.

He's so handy {and that makes me so lucky}. I drew a cartoonish sketch of what I wanted the coop to look like, and he worked his magic. We had neighbors asking if he was building a play house for Adjoa - that's how awesome it looks.

Robert added some nice features - a window that slides open so the coop gets additional ventilation, poop drawers that pull out for easy cleaning, a faux mailbox where I can dump feed directly into the coop {this is especially nice for winter, or rainy days, or when we go out of town}, and an automatic waterer that is hooked up to the sprinkler system. He's still working out some kinks on the indoor waterer. We're hoping the insulation in the coop walls will keep the water from freezing in the winter with that indoor waterer.

Here's the base. I wanted it open under the coop so the girls can get out of the sun and rain. Robert cut grooves in the redwood so the chicken wire could be inserted. It made the wire a lot more stable, and there aren't any sharp edges that could hurt the girls. It's super strong and looks fabulous!

Robert made the base, house, and roof in 3 different sections. They can be taken apart so the whole coop can be moved. It also makes it possible to do any adjustments, repairs, or deep cleaning without too much trouble. The roof is SUPER heavy, though, so it still takes a few good men to take it off.

Good thing he enjoys all the projects I give him!

Adjoa was super eager to help with the coop. She loved painting - and climbing in and out of the coop, declaring "Look! I'm a chicken!" and flapping her "wings" while strutting around the coop.

Here's the coop in it's spot near the garden. I had just started painting it. You can see the base, door, and egg boxes. I painted the inside of the coop white so it would be nice and bright in the winter, but the nesting boxes are gray because the girls like cozy, dark places for laying eggs. Or so I heard. Robert made the ground slope slightly and added a drain pipe that runs along the fence. That should keep the run nice and dry for our girls.

Here's the inside. You can see the black indoor waterer. There is a large tube between the walls, and a door on the outside so people can access it, fill it, and maintain it without having to climb in the coop. The walls are insulated, so we are hoping it will keep the water from freezing in the winter. On the right is the interior food tray. There is a faux mailbox on the exterior where I can dump in food and a shoot that holds food between the walls. the flooring is chicken wire, so poop will fall into the drawers below. Makes for super easy cleaning.

This is where the drawers slide in and out. There is a cover that flips down to allow access. The cover will prevent drafts in the winter and keep mischief out.

The girls are learning how to use the ramp. This was the first day they could leave the coop voluntarily. It took a few minutes and some logistically scattered scratch, but they got it. I painted the ramp white, which looks nice, but I think was a mistake. It's covered in poop now and doesn't look so nice. I think I'll repaint it gray next year when it's time to freshen up the coop.

This is Ariel, one of Adjoa's chickens. As you can see, we have been enjoying gardening so much, we decided to expand our garden space. It's going to be about 3 times bigger!

Funny faces. It's darn near impossible to take a picture of a dog, a child, and a chicken and have them all cooperate! Eden is doing one of my favorite faces - some strange lip thing that makes her look like she's more human than dog, Adjoa's eyes are closed, and Ariel looks like she's about to bail. Oh, and yes, those are 3 foot tall weeds in the background!

This is "the white chicken." That's what Adjoa calls her. I call her Dirty Gerty {Britt gave me the idea for the name} because she always looks filthy. Adjoa loves holding the girls - especially "the white one" and Ariel.

So that's the chicken update. We're loving our girls, and can't wait for some eggs! We should be getting some at the end of the month, or beginning of September. Fingers crossed, of course!

Sleeping Angel... I Mean, Puppy

2010-08-10T11:39:00.009-06:00

When I have days with Adjoa like today.... well, let's just say it's hard to be a mom.

Love her to death, that child can be stubborn. And I should know - I can recognize stubborn.

Anyway, I peeked in on her before I went to bed and I couldn't help but laugh. Sleeping children make days like today ok after all.

This is a soft, cuddly blanket that has a little hoodie with a dog face, and the corners have little paws. Nana gave it to her, and she loves to cuddle with it, or wear it around the house and pretend she's a puppy. Apparently, she was tired of being a child today and wanted to be a puppy instead.

Smart Things

2010-08-04T10:03:00.000-06:00

We were driving in the car last night and Adjoa pipes up all of a sudden:

"I knows lots of smart things!"

Robert and I chuckle. Grammar aside, she's right.

Me: Yes you do, Adjoa. You are very smart.
Adjoa: I know singing.
           I know playing.
           I know riding my bike.
           I know playing with dogs.
           I know climbing trees. But sometimes trees are high and big and you have to be careful
           and then I have to be bigger to climb them.
           I know lots of smart things, huh mommy?
Me: Yup. Those are all really smart things, Adjoa!

Adjoa has this knack for being thankful and grateful. She has such a positive self-esteem too. Age jades us, I think. I don't consider myself smart because I can type and "work on the computer" {that's how Adjoa describes it}. I don't naturally think I'm the bees knees for knowing how to drive a car or make dinner. But Adjoa does.

For Father's Day, Adjoa said her daddy is so smart because he even knows how to.... make her lunch for school. Maybe I'd have more innocent, childlike, happiness on a daily basis if I thought all my daily tasks were "smart things" and was grateful that I knew how to do them. Maybe it would pump me up to do the not-so-fun chores around the house that I love trying to avoid.

So here goes.

I knows lots of smart things! I know cleaning the toilet! I know mopping the floor! {I know that one really well, what with the dog, the child, and all the yard work we've been doing for the last 3 years!} I know folding laundry!

Down the Rabbit Hole

2010-07-17T16:35:00.022-06:00

For months, Adjoa has been telling everyone she wants Alice in Wonderland for her birthday - the movie. We decided to have an Alice in Wonderland party, only natural, right?

This was my first kid party. I was pretty nervous. Even deciding on Alice in Wonderland wasn't really that easy. I went back and forth between Alice and Ariel {at the local aquarium} for about 2 weeks. Finally, I decided on Alice. I'd have to do everything on my own, but I thought it could be really fun. Besides, Adjoa consistently loves Ariel, and I'm betting we can do that party later. Alice has a more recent, movie based, appeal to her.

Adjoa came up with a list of friends she wanted to invite, and I made up the party announcements. We delivered them, came home, opened our mail, and discovered that another little boy the same age as Adjoa {also invited to her party} was having a birthday party on the same day, at the same time. Awesome. We quickly moved ours up.

The party was really fun. I dressed up as the Mad Hatter. {In case you were wondering, I did not have to buy one thing for my costume...AND it was comprised of things I wear on a fairly regular basis! I'm only a chemical imbalance away from crazy. Robert maintains I'm not even THAT far away!} I curled and 'ratted' my hair, added some purple glitter gel, and went heavy on the eye makeup. I put some baby powder on my face to pale-up my skin, and bushified my eyebrows. Adjoa has a finger puppet mouse, and I pinned him to my shoulder. I introduced all the kids to my mouse and warned them NOT to say C-A-T or the doormouse would go crazy and we'd have to put jam on his nose! Luckily, all the children complied, and it saved the mouse, and me, from a sticky predicament.

The day {and night} before the party I made "Eat Me," "Try Me," and "Take Me" sugar cookies, a pretty awesome 6- Layer Rainbow Birthday Cake, and I bought Jones soda and made new "Drink Me" labels.

All the kids made paper bag hats. We had a Mad Hatter Fashion show, and the Mad Hatter judged the hats. the Thank You cards are awards for their hats, and pictures of each of the kids, doing their "Mad Pose", modeling their hats. There was a Rabbit Race {aka potato sack race} that the kids loved. They raced back and forth at least 10 times. It was so funny to watch them hopping around in the pillowcases. We ended the party with a pink flamingo pinata.

I was really wishing we had a croquet set. I think it would have been fun to use the mallet as the pinata stick - and even better if I could have found a hedgehog pinata! I really wanted to have a dragon pinata and use a wooden sword for the stick, and let the kids "slay the jabberwok" but Robert said that the kids were too little and wouldn't be familiar with the newer Alice in Wonderland. So we kept it "cuter".

Just before the party, I was vowing I'd never do another birthday party again, but it ended up being pretty fun. I had a great time with the kids and dressing up made a big difference. I don't know how I would have felt going to the aquarium and letting someone else do everything for me. Less stressed prior to the party, for sure, but I doubt I would have had as much fun.

Happy Birthday, Adjoa!

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Peter

2010-07-12T19:21:00.001-06:00

I showed Adjoa how to play "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater" on the piano yesterday. She got the basic idea of it, but didn't really have it down.

Today, she sat down at the piano and just busted it out - words and all.

"Peter, Peter" Lyrics {according to Adjoa}
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Peter,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her
Put her in a pumpkin shell
and really kept her really well.

She's a hoot.

Anyway, enjoy!

I Loved Being Three

2010-07-11T19:23:00.018-06:00

It's my girl's birthday today! We kept it pretty low key today - she is having a big party on Wednesday. i still wanted to say Happy Birthday, though. And share these cute pics.

Auntie Chambra sent Adjoa some flowers and an adorable sock cat named "Binky" for her birthday. Adjoa loved them. I promised Chambra I would post and send some pictures.

When I reminded Adjoa it was her birthday today and that she was now 4 years old, she sighed, "But mom! I looved being three!"

I loved her being three, too.

This Land is Your Land, This Land is Adjoa's Land....

2010-07-04T11:36:00.023-06:00

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Adjoa has a song she'd like to share:

I remember learning this song in preschool, too. I think there might even be a tape of me singing it. Wouldn't that be fun?

p.s. sorry the video quality is so yucky :( I don't really know what happened to my camera...

I WON!

2010-06-22T10:59:00.002-06:00

Hey look! I WON!

I even won the T-Shirt! {which I have been totally pining over for weeks and weeks!}

I'm so excited!

I will be spending Wednesday and Saturday immersed in Chicken Week happenings - don't worry, I'll post pictures, etc. I know you are all just dying to hear more about urban chickening :)

What Do Your Color Preferences Say About You?

2010-06-16T08:25:00.000-06:00

I took this fun quiz today. You select the colors you like and don't like, and then all kinds of fun {and maybe even useful} info about your personality will be revealed.

Probably more than the average joe wants to know about me, but here are my results:

Your Profile :

You are able to listen to others, you show a good emotional intelligence, you know how to bring your support to others. You are also strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled for yourself, and by your need to act and to move forward. Finally you are creative, you always have new ideas, and your inspiration comes from the inside.

Your understanding of your environment :

At first, at 38%, you are focused on the facts and on the reality, and your decisions are determined by your perception of facts.

Then, at a ratio of 36%, you are attached to moral values and feelings, and you have an emotional relation with the environment.

Finally, at 25%, you are centered on your thoughts and your actions are determined by your knowledge and your experience.

How you assert yourself :

In your relations with others, your actions and behaviour are determined by your sensibility and that of your partner at a ratio of 51%. Then you are driven at 48% by own will and personal goals.

Also, your inspiration and your creativity, your artistic or spiritual impulse have an influence of 51%. Your family and personal ties interfere at 48%.

Finally, your point of view and your decision-making are motivated by your inner conviction at 52%. Dialogue and exchange of views with others are taken into account at 47%.

The qualities that characterize your personality at this time :

Your thinking at 20%. You are attuned to others and you show a good emotional intelligence, which allow you to give support to people.

Your emotional intelligence at 20%. You are thoughtful and capable of listening to others, you take into account the needs of others before setting up the defined objectives.

Your energy at 19%. You are strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled to yourself, and by your need to act and move ahead.

Your creativity at 19%. You are creative, you know how to see beauty, you are intuitive and your inspiration comes from the inside.

Your insights at 19%. You are thoughtful and deep, you think before getting into action and you know how to communicate your knowledge.

Finally, you are a manager and a structured person, you know how to take into account the needs of each person while leading them to the fixed goals, you are a creative person, with always new ideas, and you know how to apply them.

If it's on the internets, it must be true.

Even a 3 Year Old can Appreciate a Good Bubble Bath

2010-06-15T17:44:00.000-06:00

Adjoa has been having a rough day. She is tired and missing Nana. I decided to have her take a nice warm bubble bath this afternoon. I filled the tub with toasty-warm water and put my yummy smelling bubbles in the tub for her.

As she eased herself into the tub she sighed, "oooh. This is nice."

She's a girl after my own heart!

Orange Banana Bread

2010-06-15T14:48:00.001-06:00

Orange Banana Bread

I love this banana bread. I've been tweaking the recipe for 2 years now, and I think I finally have something I will stick with. The orange gives the banana bread a unique taste, without overpowering the banana; it also makes the bread really moist.

Over the years I've also added extras like walnuts, strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, etc. and they have all been yummy. Anyway, I made it last night and Robert said it was the best yet. Here's what I did:

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons applesauce
2 eggs
3-4 medium ripe bananas, halved
2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
3/4 cup orange juice
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 - 2 teaspoons cinnamon, to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour, optional

Directions
In a bowl, combine sugar, applesauce, and eggs; mix well. Stir in orange juice concentrate, orange juice, and banana halves. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk; add to banana mixture, beating just until moistened. Mixture will be lumpy and you will have chinks of banana. Do Not over beat mixture. Flour will get overworked if you mix it too long and the bread will be tough and dense.

Stir in any optional ingredients: walnuts, strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, etc.

In a small bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Grease 2 8x4 loaf pans, sprinkle Cinnamon Sugar mixture in pans; evenly coat bottom and sides of pans. Pour banana mixture into pans.

Bake at 325* for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans and place on wire rack to cool completely.

Fairy Garden

2010-06-14T22:13:00.001-06:00

So this nursery near our house is one of my favorite places this season. About once a month they have these really fun kids activities. Last week Adjoa and I went to learn how to construct a Fairy Garden. It was fun, and the different gardens were so cute.

As we were walking to the car, Adjoa says, "Mommy. I have a good idea."
Me: What's that, Adjoa?
Adjoa: When we go to the ail-port to pick up Nana I will say, Nana, do you want to make a Fairy Larden with me? And Nana will say, Of course I do, Sweetie!

And then she went on to detail about how they would go to the store to get some plants and they would find some sticks and some "pen-cones" and they would make a Fairy Garden. Daddy was then commissioned to construct a house for the Fairies. Because, you know, they do need a house so the squirrels cannot get them. She talked about how the Fairies could scold the pestering squirrels and then go inside their house and shut the door.

It was hysterical.

Adjoa talked about the Fairy Garden constantly. The day Nana was coming into town, we called so Adjoa could share her plan.

Being the great nana that Nana is, she followed Adjoa's pre-scripted conversation nearly perfectly.

We went to the nursery to get a few plants the first morning we could. Nana and Adjoa went on a walk around the neighborhood looking for sticks, rocks, bark, and any other treasure a fairy may need. They totally scored bug and found a couple walnuts.

We stayed up late the other night putting it all together - we even found a cute little fairy to add.

Adjoa is quite proud of her Fairy Garden. We put the finishing touches on it today and she was so eager to show Daddy as soon as he got home from work.

My only regret is that we weren't able to finish it in time to do the Fairy Walk at the nursery on Saturday. Everyone got to display their fairy gardens and the kids could dress up and do some fun activities. Oh well. The opportunity to make it with Nana was compensation enough for Adjoa!

Wasatch Community Garden Giveaway

2010-06-13T14:05:00.001-06:00

Wasatch Community Gardens is doing a giveaway this week!

I'm hoping to win a T-Shirt!

Garden Love

2010-06-08T23:11:00.007-06:00

I snapped some pictures of my garden today. The veggies are coming along nicely - and we have peas this year! {last year the peas succumbed to a late frost and promptly shriveled up. Our harvest was a meager 7 pods! I tossed them into a salad. They were yummy, but the overall result was disappointing} I'm trying a few new things this year: watermelon, cantaloupe, and eggplant. I also found a purple bell pepper that I am excited to try.

See those beautiful, full peas - with loads of blossoms?!? I'm super excited.

Hey, look! Peas!

I think overall, the garden is doing better this year. Maybe I just feel a little more confident, or maybe it's my super awesome compost. Really, though. I am proud of my compost. And I think secretly Robert is too. He thought it was going to be a disaster.

I was happy with last years results {and my veggies seem to be happy too}, but I decided to move the composters to a different location this year. They should still get plenty of sun, but they will be closer to the garden, the chicken coop, and I will have easier access from the back door. Last year I had a kitchen bowl that I would throw scraps in throughout the day. Then I would transport them to a bucket out the back door. When that got either full or gross looking, I would take it over to the composter and dump it out.

This year, the composter is just outside the back door - so I can walk the scraps directly from the kitchen, out the door, and throw them over the balcony into the composter. So far I like it. We never really use that back door, so I'm not concerned about possible smell or flies. We'll see how the compost does, but I have my fingers crossed because it's a much more convenient system for me.

I also made a trip to 4 neighborhood Starbucks' and asked them for their coffee grounds. {Thanks Shelley!} I ended up with just over 5 bags of coffee grounds and mixed them in with my existing compost. I think any time the compost starts to smell, I'm going to do this. The area around the composters smelled heavenly for days! But I guess that only works if you like the smell of coffee.....

We put in a rose bed last fall when the roses were half off. It's right next to the brick house, facing south. They seem to love it there. One large rose bush existed when I bought the house, but it didn't produce very many blooms and was pretty sad looking.

After 3 years of pruning and fertilizing, it's in full glory this year. I'm so glad I kept it! The bush is over 8' tall. You just can't buy a rose bush like that. With so many changes to the house, it's fun to have something that was original. This rose bush and the huge pine tree will probably be the only survivors when I've had my way with the yard!

One of the new rose bushes. I love the soft yellow against the green leave and dark bark. We debated over bark color for a while, and settled on this charcoal black. I think the plants look fantastic against it, and it complements all the stonework Robert did last summer.

This is the first bloom for this rose bush. I like the variety of colors in this single bud. We have Red, pink, yellow and orange roses and this one blends them all together.

This white rose bush is growing profusely. None of the rose tickets specified how large they would get, and I think this one is going to be a doosie. I am probably going to have to transplant it this year so it has more space. I'm already praying I can move it successfully. I love it - the contrast between the pure white and the dark, glossy leaves is stunning. I want to give it space so it can be seen better - and so I can allow it to grow larger.

I took this picture before I removed all the spent blooms. The buds start out a vibrant orange, change to pink and they open and enlarge, and then fade to a soft pink - almost white. I'm about to wax poetic here, sorry. I just had to take this picture because I thought it was such a beautiful, natural representation of life. The vibrant young bud, the full and mature blossom, and the fading, spent bloom. It stuck a cord in me, I guess. Even though this is not a perfectly beautiful picture, I thought the beauty was in the truth of it.

Gardening is turning me into a nut. I love it, though!

Learn to Play Baseball

2010-06-01T22:58:00.004-06:00

We signed Adjoa up for some local rec classes for little kids. They learn to play baseball and soccer. Adjoa loved the soccer classes, but was a little apprehensive with baseball. After 2 basic skills classes where they practiced stopping grounders, throwing the ball, and swinging the bat, they got to play a game.

Here's some highlights.

Adjoa's 'get ready' stance.

Running Home.

Safe!

I was so proud she was swinging the bat and hitting the ball. The first day she didn't even really want to swing the bat. She's a pretty good little hitter, if I do say so myself!

A Portrait of a Best Friend

2010-05-30T21:45:00.001-06:00

Adjoa drew this picture of Eden.

It's a fairly good likeness, don't you think?

She was adamant that Eden have eyelashes, "because Eden is a girl."

What I Learned on Mother's Day

2010-05-18T21:35:00.001-06:00

Because we were in San Diego for Mother's Day, I didn't receive Adjoa's Mother's Day present until we got back.

She made this card at school. The teacher's asked her questions about me and she answered them.

I learned that maybe my daughter needs to know her mommy better. Silly me, I thought I should be spending my time teaching her things like the alphabet, being honest, and how to ride a bike. Apparently, I need to add facts about mommy to the curriculum.

Adjoa's Spring Program at Challenger

2010-05-13T22:13:00.007-06:00

As soon as we came back from San Diego, Adjoa had her Spring Program at school.

I missed the December program because I was in Ghana, so I was super excited to see Adjoa in action. The program was really cute, and the kids did a great job.

Adjoa and J.J. They have been best little buds since the first day of school. Adjoa came home and said, "Mommy! You know what! I like J.J. He is the same like Junior!" They ran out together during their first outside play time to swing together.

In case you ever forget, THIS land was made for you and me. You can tell the kids loved the stomping bit.

Adjoa had been singing this song for about a month at home. She was so excited because it was going to be scary and the moms and dads were going to be so scared of the Black Widow! It's hard to be scared when the kids are so dang cute.

Shoo Fly was probably my favorite. The expressions on Adjoa's face while she was doing the actions was so cute. I just wish you could actually see it in the video.

Here's Adjoa's assessment of the program. Turns out we both love Shoo Fly.

Sunny San Diego

2010-05-10T20:00:00.008-06:00

First of all, I'm cheating. I'm posting this like a month late. We ran into more computer problems {actually the same computer problem, we just didn't fix it completely before, because, well, we didn't know what we were doing. Luckily I have some smart relatives that know a lot more about computer machines getting sick than I do - THANK YOU JEREMY!}.

We got some medicine for our computer machine {can you tell we are also digging The Good Guys?} and we were back in business.

I made a joke to Jeremy that life is impossible without a computer: can't research chickens, can't find out if it's ok to plant raspberries next to other berries or if they will cross pollinate, can't research the difference between staining and painting brick, can't work, and you lose your social life. Jeremy laughed, but seriously. No email. No blogging. Nothing. It's sad, I know, but I really felt like I was missing a vital social connection.

Anyhoo. Back on topic.

We went to San Diego the first part of May. It was great to see old-timey friends and our family. Adjoa was sealed to us, and we were able to share the experience with many close friends and family. It was so amazing to have a life-long dream of a forever family finally realized.

Adjoa, of course, loved all the attention. She constantly expresses desires to go back to see everyone, and let's me know every time she is missing some in particular. She's so cute and such a sweetheart. She really loves her family and feels so connected to everyone.

Here are some quick highlights from the trip

We started the 2 weeks off with some of Robert's co=workers. We stayed at a beach house his company owns. It was fun to spend a little time with them and get to know Robert's friends from work and their families better.
Gail and Kevin hosted us for the remainder of the stay. Once family started coming in, it was so much easier to be closer to them.
A few days were spent at Sea World. We bought season passes and made the most of them while we were there. Adjoa loved it, and I think Sea World is one of the most kid-friendly places you can go. There's enough different things that the kids and adults stay busy, but it's not so huge that you get exhausted. Still, it took us a couple visits to do everything. Adjoa loved the Pet Show - she still goes around singing "Who let the dogs out? hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" It's funny to hear that song in her little voice and 3-year-old accent.
We got to feed the Sting Rays and the Sea Lions. The interaction with the animals was one of my favorite parts of the trip
Eden came with us, so we took her to Dog's Beach one day. Robert took Adjoa sea shell hunting. She was so excited to show me all the different shells. They found a Sand Dollar and Adjoa asks, "ohhh! Can we spend it, daddy?" I told her that only mermaids can spend sand dollars.
We went to Sea Port Village when my parents came into town. We watched a fire-eater/sword-swallower show. I'll post one of the videos. It was pretty crazy. Mom was really worried that Adjoa would get the wrong idea from the show and start swallowing deadly items so she took her into some shops for part of it. Silly Nana. That was a trick Adjoa had up her sleeve to get you to buy a toy for her. :)
More of Robert's family came in and we had another beach day. Scott took Adjoa on her first surfboard ride.
Exploring the tide pools was so much fun with the kids. Adjoa, Brandon, and Olivia were adorable. They dug up baby sand crabs, spotted a couple star fish, and even found a baby sea lion. The baby sea lion was really sad looking. No other sea lions were around and it looked weak. It would come right up to us and wasn't concerned about people being around it at all.
The San Diego temple was beautiful and amazing. Adjoa loved her white dress and said she was a princess. She asks when she can go back to be a princess again, and every time she says her prayers she says she is thankful that we can be a family. So cute!
The trip ended with a visit to Tom and Amber's new house. Tom installed a zip line in the backyard and the kids {ok, and some of the adults, too} had a blast playing on it.
Of course, I can't leave out Bertha's yummy cooking. I'm pretty sure we gained some weight while there, but it always seems worth it when it was cooked by Robert's mom!

Pictures from the trip.

Fire-Eater at Seaport Village. This is a little long. He does a little too much talking, but it's kind of cool.

Sword-Sawllowing at Seaport Village. Again, a little on the long side because he talks so much. But in the end, he does actually swallow the dang sword.

Adjoa feeding the baby Sea Lions {and a bird} at Sea World

Adjoa Surfing

Kristy riding the zip line at Tom's

Robins, Monkeys, and Zebras...Oh My!

2010-04-28T08:38:00.006-06:00

Adjoa has been busy at school. They are learning about different animals. Here is some of her art work from the last few weeks.

I love looking in her bag to see what she drew - I think it's my favorite after school activity!

She is getting more excited to share what they did during the day. At first she would just say, "We played outside, had a snack, ate lunch, sang a song, and we danced!" Now when we pick her up she tells us all about what animal they learned about that day. It's really cute to see what she found most interesting about the animal.

Oh, and of course, if she got to be the line leader that day she's soooo excited to let us know. It's a high honor, you know, and must be treated as such by parents.

Mama bird is feeding baby bird a worm.... just in case you were wondering what was going on with the bird on the left!

I think this poor monkey is missing toes on a foot - and that's one sweet tail! I bet ALL the other monkeys are jealous!

Pretty great little jail-bird zebra!

First Worm!

2010-04-26T16:06:00.005-06:00

Adjoa and I took the girls on an outing today. The sun was shining, and we were all eager to get out of the house for a bit. It was fun to watch the chickens gain confidence and start to explore a little.

At first they would stay all huddled together, but as they started to realize 'outside' was a good thing, they started cheeping happily and pecking at the ground and nibbling at some of the weeds.

I kept them close to the area where their run will be, so hopefully it will feel familiar to them when it's finished.

After about 30 minutes, I spotted a Big Fat Juicy Worm {BFJW} and called to the chicks. The Golden Cochin {Sula?} came over looking at me quizzically. She spotted the BFJW, pecked it a couple times, then scooped it up and started screeching happily.

The Australorp dashed over and snatched the BFJW immediately from {Sula} and started squawking and running all over the little chicken yard. Soon a competition started between all the chicks. Our Australorp fended off most of the attacks until our big, possibly-boy, Easter Egger {who I will now call George Eliot?} grabbed the worm, gave 'er a good tug, and cried out excitedly announcing the half-BFJW {s}he had. It was quickly gobbled up {I think there's a lesson here in not gloating} as {s}he ran around behind a stack of pallets.

Finally, after several minutes of chasing, shrieking, and dashing, our Australorp settled down to enjoy the remainder of the BFJW.

A good outing for all. The girls were highly disappointed to be coming back inside after this debut.

{Sula} stares longingly after our Australorp, having just had her treasure swiped.

Happy to let everyone know she is now in possession of a big juicy worm!

Successfully fending off attacks on all fronts can't go on forever, but it CAN go on a lot longer than you think! These girls chased, squawked, dashed and screeched for a good 10 minutes. I thought the worm would be all dried up by the time it was enjoyed.

Mmmm. delectable! Can it get any better than a BFJW? I submit that it cannot! I love that her eyes are closed! She's hysterical!

The Ever Elusive Seth

2010-04-26T10:21:00.001-06:00

How much MORE elusive - or strange - can it get?

http://adoptghana.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/stranger-than-any-fiction/

Miss Independent with Strong Muscles and Pretty Teeth

2010-04-26T08:33:00.005-06:00

I'm pretty sure Adjoa is the most independent little 3-year old I've ever met. Either that, or she's sending me messages that I need to pay more attention to her.

Adjoa woke up early and by 7:30 was tired of waiting on me. So she climbed up onto the counter, chose a package of instant oatmeal, poured it into a bowl, and added water. That's about as far as she got, but I'm pretty sure that's only because she couldn't reach the microwave!

The next day, Robert and I were working outside. Adjoa was in and out of the house playing, helping, running amok. She comes skipping up to me and informs me that she made chicken nuggets for us to eat. Wha????? I go inside to take a look and she has carefully arranged frozen chicken nuggets on a cookie sheet. She has a plate for herself with a few chicken nuggets - 3 of which have little nibbles on the corner. Frozen chicken nuggets? Gross!

I go outside, laughing, to share the news about our yummy lunch with Robert. He tells me that the day before, while I was out running errands, he was working on the chicken coop. Adjoa came outside, offering a sandwich she had made: Turkey lunch meat, mustard, and ketchup. Being the good, hungry dad that he is, Robert ate it. {Excuse me for a moment while I dry heave. I'm not much of a ketchup person.}

So far this morning, she has informed me no less than 4 times, that she will get {a snack}, {juice}, {a something yummy that is fruit}, {cereal but no milk because the milk is toooo heavy and it will spill} "all my myself. I can do it myself."

At least she is informing me before she goes into the kitchen to retrieve whatever her little heart desires. It's better than walking into the kitchen to find an inedible mess everywhere. She gets so put out when I tell her I need to help her.

"But I'm a big girl and I have strong muscles!" she says, flexing her guns and gritting her pearly whites.

Adjoa pities the fool who can't have "a something yummy that is fruit".

Crazy Guilt-Ridden

2010-04-22T21:20:00.004-06:00

Not only do I feel personally betrayed by someone I trusted for a long time, I told other people they could trust this person. I feel betrayed. I feel enormous guilt. I feel heart-sick. I wish there was more I could do.

Ever Find Out You Thought More of a Friendship Than the Other Person?

2010-04-19T15:29:00.006-06:00

I did.

It hurts. But I'm making the best of it... mostly by listening to this song.

Nice Weather + New Princess Gardening Tools = Hours of Entertainment and a Few Less Weeds

2010-04-13T11:51:00.003-06:00

For Easter, Nana and Pa sent Adjoa a set of gardening tools featuring all your favorite Disney Pricesses, of course. She LOVED it. {Think those hours of helping Daddy in the garage has had an effect on her?}

Saturday we finally had some nice weather, so we spent the entire day outside working. I forgot how much fun it is to do Spring yard work. {I will NOT be thinking this mid-summer. I will be wondering why on earth I bother with gardens at all, they are "so much work"} I also forgot how tiring it is :)

Adjoa was eager to jump right in, so I put her to work on a new flower bed. Robert finished the raised stone planter toward the end of the summer last year, so it is currently featuring nothing except bare dirt and weeds. Adjoa's job was to pull/dig/wrastle the weeds. She came over to check-in with me and was dripping sweat - I think the weeds were winning. She wiped her brow, sighed, and asked if she could water the pretty ones. Not really knowing what she meant, I agreed because water doesn't usually hurt anything.

I walked by the planter later and found that she had "removed" all the weeds except those that had any sort of little flower on them. Those she had lovingly and carefully watered.

I supposed I'll have to pull those out myself when she is not looking - or while she is taking a nap. Turns out yard work makes 3 year olds tired too.

Eager to begin her first outside chore of the season. Hopefully she will be as eager at the end of the season...I know I will be struggling!

Hard at work, wrastling the weeds!

I love the little tongue sticking out. Such determined concentration!

Introducing....

2010-04-12T14:34:00.016-06:00

The Six-Chicks - but no Tom-Tom. {And hopefully no rooster since they are illegal and it would be a HUGE waste of my time to raise an illegal, noisy rooster}

We are taking name suggestions. I have a whole list of names that I like, but the main problem is that Adjoa wants to name 2 of the chickens after our friends, Aimee and Corbin. I'm not sure A&C would like to have chickens bearing their names for the next 10 or so years. Also, I'm not looking forward to talking about how many eggs Corbin is producing, or that Aimee got attacked by a racoon and is no longer with us. {Not that I'm looking forward to announcing a racoon attacking any of our chickens, but I feel it would be espeically confusing or off-putting if it were Aimee}.

So. Do we let Adjoa name 2 of the chicks Aimee and Corbin?

Here's a few of the names I like:

Circe
Zipporah {Heb. meaning 'bird, a beauty'}
Sula {Heb. meaning 'bird, peace, sun'} I especially like this for the yellow one....
George Eliot
Henrietta & Gretta {Possibly for the 2 easter-eggers that look a like}

And here's one of my favorite clips to honor the origianl Six-Chicks {or rather the movie from which they came, the acutal Six-Chicks are not really all that great}.

Check-MATE!

2010-04-11T22:37:00.001-06:00

So we were taking a family walk today and Adjoa announced that she was HUN-greee!

To which I jokingly replied, "I'm hungry too. I know! If I eat you, I won't be hungry any more and neither will you!"

Adjoa: "Mom! If you eat me you won't have your child!"
Me: {laugh} "Oh. And then what would happen?"
Adjoa: "Well. You would CRY!"

Checkmate, Adjoa. Check-MATE.

March - In like a Lion and out like a Peregrine Falcon

2010-04-04T15:51:00.007-06:00

Which according to internet research {conducted because I had some doubts about Cheetah speed}, is the world's fastest animal {when diving it reaches 200 mph, if we are talking strict flight, the Swift can speed along at 106 mph}.

So, to get you all caught up on my month of March here are just a few things that happened:

My grandma {aka Gam} passed away. It was difficult for Adjoa. Gam was in a care center up north for a few years {she was losing her eyesight} and Adjoa and I would go visit her occasionally. Adjoa loved drawing pictures in Gam's visitor book. My parents flew in from Hawaii and we all {with the exception of Robert because he is afraid of dead bodies and turns pale and passes out} drove up to Idaho for the funeral.
It was nice to see everyone, though. The entire family was able to gather and spend some time with each other. Adjoa had a blast with Uncle Cody, Auntie Ashley, Auntie Chambra and Nick.
Promptly after all our visitors left and life was meant to return to normal, I got sick. It lasted about a week and a half. It was the kind-of-sore-throat-wake-up-and-you-have-no-voice sickness that morphed into a sinus infection and lung complication thingie which required breathing treatments. My doctor is formulating a hypothesis that I have a form of asthma that rears it's ugly head when I get sick or when my seasonal allergies come on. Pretty much every time I get sick, it moves down into my lungs and I have to go in for an asthmatic breathing treatment. She gave me a prescription for an inhaler. Nice. I didn't fill it because I felt better after the treatment and started recovering, but a few weeks later, I still have a cough and my chest feels like it's closing in on me and I think it would be nice to have a little inhaler handy.
During this time, Robert and Adjoa also got sick. We were a hot mess. Literally. We all had fevers and I don't think I got out of my PJs for a couple days.
As I started feeling better, I had an I'm-an-old-woman moment. I slipped in the shower. I was afraid to grab the shower curtain and pull the rod out of the wall, so instead I decided the wisest move would be to allow my behind and shoulder to absorb the fall. I couldn't sit. I couldn't walk. I couldn't lay down. So sad. I'm actually thinking of buying those sticky rubber stickers. Robert wants to install a hand rail for me.
My mom showed up at the airport again. I temporarily forgot that I was co-hosting a baby shower for Cody and Ashley. Fevers and falling will do that to a person. We had another convergence of family over an extended weekend. We had a great time - lots of late nights, eating out, and running all over 2 counties. It was *such a joy* toting a 3-year old along. Considering the circumstances, Adjoa was terrific. She had a melt down on the last night, however, when she thought she needed a toy at Target. {Sorry Aunt Cathy!}
At 3 am the morning my mom was flying out, I got the flu. Nasty business. It put me out of commission again.
The next day our computer went kaput. In a big way. It wouldn't even turn on. After phone calls and late night visits from local computer gurus, Robert was able to get it up and running. We were forced into buying a new hard drive and installing everything all over again. Most of our files are on an external hard drive, but there are some things that are locked up in a hard drive that the computer can't see. Hopefully we can still access those files.
Oh. And I'm a new mother of 6! I'll post some cute pictures soon.... just as soon as Robert has the computer fully restored and I can upload them. You are all going to be soooo excited! I just know it!

{Another} Tofu Recipe

2010-02-25T14:47:00.004-07:00

Here is another tofu recipe... I know, but I can't help myself. This lasagna is yummy. Although Robert contended it needed meat. But he always says that about veggie lasagna and it didn't say it until the day after so I don't think it really counts. At the dinner table he loved it and whilst it was cooking he proclaimed that it smelled "delicious."

Also, this recipe has less than 300 calories per serving.

Tofu Lasagna

217 g Lasagna
16 ounces Firm Tofu (squeeze the water out)
2 large Eggs
1/4 t Salt
1/4 t Black Pepper
1/4 t Nutmeg
2 T Skim Milk
3 c Spaghetti Sauce
2 T dried Parsley
2 c shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 c Parmesan Cheese
8 ounces Mushrooms
1 c frozen chopped Spinach
1 Zucchini
1 Yellow Squash

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*
Cook Lasagna (about 9 pieces) according to package instructions
Crumble tofu or pulse in a food processor until broken into small pieces. Combine in a bowl with eggs, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, skim milk, spaghetti sauce, parsley, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
Slice mushrooms, zucchini, and yellow squash, and saute with spinach in a pan.
Spread a layer of sauce mixture in bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. Add a layer of noodles (3 noodles wide), then spread another layer of sauce on top. Spread half of veggie mixture on sauce. Repeat layers of noodles, sauce, and veggies, ending with a layer of sauce.
Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top.
Bake in preheated over for 30-35 minutes.

This recipe is very flexible. You can add whatever veggies you like and it's yummy. I think next time, I want to add some eggplant too.

General Tao's Tofu

2010-02-23T23:31:00.003-07:00

Now before you start rolling your eyes and grumbling about the tofu, I'll have you know this recipe is delicious. Robert and Adjoa gave a hearty thumbs up. It also received rave reviews and is incredibly popular on vegweb.com. Oh, and it only has about 300 calories per serving.

So there.

General Tao's Tofu

1 box of firm tofu
egg substitute for 1 egg - I just used an egg. It increases the calories and isn't very vegetarian, but I don't really care about all that at the moment.
1/4 cup cornstarch
vegetable oil for frying - I used olive oil because I don't typically have vegetable oil on hand unless I'm baking a lot of goodies. Which I haven't been lately. Sigh. Olive oil is also sweeter than vegetable oil, so you can get away with using less sugar than the recipe calls for later.
3 chopped green onions
1 Tablespoon minced ginger - I recommend using fresh ginger. This really makes the dish and is soooo yummy. I added a little extra ginger because I love it.
1 Tablespoon minced garlic - I also recommend using fresh garlic. The flavor is just so much better than dried garlic.
2/3 cup vegetable stock - I was out of vegetable stock, so I had to use chicken stock. It helped give the dish more of a chicken flavor.
2 Tablespoons soy sauce - Use low sodium soy sauce, if you have it.
4 Tablespoons sugar - This is a lot of sugar, and the dish is sweet. You can easily reduce the amount of sugar and still have a super yummy dinner.
1/4 - 1/2 cup Red Bell Pepper
1 Tablespoon sherry (optional) - I didn't put this in and we didn't miss a thing
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
Cayenne Pepper, to taste
3 cups steamed vegetables - I used a frozen stir-fry mix

Tofu Preparation:

This takes a little forethought and a little preparation, but it makes all the difference in the world. Whenever you are using tofu as a meat substitute, I would highly recommend taking a few extra steps here. It makes all the difference in the world and helps the tofu have a more chicken-like consistency. You are going to drain, press, and freeze the tofu.

When you get home from the store, immediately remove and drain the tofu.
Place a dish towel on the counter, lay a paper towel on top and place the tofu in the center.
Cover the tofu with another paper towel and another dish towel.
You need to add some weight. A book or two works. I put a plate on top and a water bottle filled with water. The extra weight will help press out the water.
Let it sit for a while.
Slice the tofu horizontally so you have 2 rectangles, half as thick.
Put it in the freezer. I remove the tofu the day before I want to use it and just stick it in the refrigerator.

Directions:

Cut prepared, thawed tofu into 1 inch chunks. Mix the egg replacer as specified on the box and add an additional 3 tablespoons water. Dip tofu in egg replacer/water mixture and coat completely. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely. Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl.

Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain oil.

Heat 3 Tablespoons oil in pan on medium heat. Add green onions, ginger and garlic, cook for about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn garlic. Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red bell pepper and vinegar. Mix 2 Tablespoons water with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well. Add cayenne pepper to taste. Add fried tofu and steamed vegetables and coat evenly.

Serve immediately over your choice of rice.

Serves: 4 - We actually got about 5 servings out of this. Once you add the rice, it fills you up fast.

Preparation time: 30 Minutes

I Missed My Birthday

2010-02-18T21:24:00.003-07:00

But that's what happens when your birthday is on Sunday, I think.

That and I was in a mood where I can't really think of anything I want. Ridiculous, I know. But true.

Actually, I think it just took too much time to think about what I might want and so I just didn't. {As you can tell from my recent lack of blogging I haven't exactly had a lot of time since somewhere around November}

Robert and Adjoa sent me flowers for my Birthitine. I let it slide, even though I am adamant that Birthday and Valentine's Day should be separate when dealing with presents. They are still prettily sitting in the middle of the kitchen table where I can whiz by them every day and smile.

On a slightly divergent vein, I have kept the cards from all the flowers Robert has ever sent me. It's one of the only romantically corny and sentimental things I do. Oh, actually that's a lie. The very first one I don't have. I'm certain it's around here somewhere, but I haven't been able to find it for a long time. I guess it's possible that I threw it away during a short break-up that occurred while we were dating because someone was impatient and someone else wasn't communicating his - uh - or her intentions very well. Plus it was long distance and there's only so much patience for that, right?

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I still do have it. Somewhere. But even if I don't, I remember what it said because it was the first.

So. Back to my birthday. No body showed up to clean my sink, but Robert did take Adjoa for the day on Saturday. They left me alone in the house and it was heavenly. I stayed in my P.J.s all day. Never mind the fact that I still worked - it was just quiet and I didn't allow myself to care that my hair was a mess and my sleep-wrinkled P.J.s remained on my body. {I was eventually forced to get myself all gussied up when we went out to dinner that night, but in hind sight, I shouldn't have. I must remember that for next time).

By the time my actual Birthitine day rolled around, we all forgot it was the 14th.

So anyway. Happy Birthitine to Me!

Fotos for Food

2010-02-11T12:14:00.002-07:00

The ever awesome Amy has set up an amazing opportunity for everyone to help raise money for Luckyhill. Our goal is to provide free food every day for all the school children. That way, every child is ensured a meal every day. Even if they don't get that at home.

Here's Amy's post:

I am so grateful! Jami, my wonderful neighbor and friend, has graciously donated her time and awesome photography skills for the benefit of Belinda and her friends. She has offered to do a day of "mini, mini sessions", with 100% of the cost going directly to the nutrition program at Luckyhill.

Here's the details:

And here's how it works:

1.) Email Jami to schedule your "mini mini session" for Feb. 20th.

2.) Bring your cute child or children HERE and Jami will take individual portraits of each child.

3.) The best part . . . a couple weeks later you'll get a disc with 3-5 images of your child, perfectly ready for printing or facebook, or whatever!

You'll be helping Luckyhill and getting cute photos of your kiddos!

You can get more info and contact Jami by visiting her blog here.

The Elusive Seth

2010-01-19T17:41:00.004-07:00

That was the nickname his parents gave him. Months and months ago. It is his superhero name.

I met Seth for the first time in December. There had been many stories before him, and his parents had shared so many memories of their time with him, that it was easy to feel like I knew him already.

Everyone talks about his smile - and it's true. It just lights you up to see him smile. He played hide-and-seek with us while Lois and I were visiting. He's VERY good at it. He would sneak up on us and jump out from behind the sofa with a smile as broad and bright as the day. He also excelled at playing a joke on me where he would disappear around the corner and wait to see how long I kept talking before I realized he was gone.

He loved his family very much and just worshiped his dad. My heart goes out to the Watson family. I hope you find peace and comfort in knowing we love you and Seth.

We all loved him - and we will all miss him.

One Year Anniversay!

2010-01-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today is special to me. One year ago yesterday Adjoa came home! She flew in around 11 pm on the 7th - we were so excited! I paced around the airport waiting and waiting. She was quite sleepy, but recognized me right away and snuggled up to me. I carried her on my back out of the airport and we drove straight home.

We spent a few moments walking around the house together - she freaked out when she saw Eden - like screaming freaked out. They are best friends now. About half way into our Hawaii trip this Christmas, Adjoa went into the bathroom and came out with tears streaming down her face. When questioned about why she was so upset, she said, "I miss Eden!" It was so cute.

Anyway, I can hardly believe it has been a year already! She is amazing and special and I am so lucky and blessed to have her as my daughter!

We went to breakfast this morning to celebrate - breakfast was the first meal we had together at home. I figured it would be a great way to celebrate how blessed we have been this year.

We love you, Adjoa!

Valley of the Temples, Dole Plantation, and Waimea Valley

2010-01-06T16:56:00.006-07:00

Towards the end of our trip we visited the Dole Plantation {education AND fun!}, the Valley of the Temples, and Waimea Valley.

The Dole Plantation has super-yummy pineapple ice-cream, and Robert's parents love the pineapple cream macadamia nuts there. Adjoa loves the train and the ice-cream.

The Valley of the Temples is an amazing replica of a temple in China. They built the entire temple without nails. It's beautiful - and the ponds have some seriously HUGE Koi.

Finally, we stopped by Waimea Valley. There is an easy hike up to the waterfall, and they have a massive botanical garden. We had fun swimming in the waterfall - although it was a little cold.

On our way out of the valley, Adjoa and Pa came up with a fun and entertaining method of travel. Well, fun for Adjoa, rather tiring for Pa. I'm sure it all started as an accident, but Adjoa was having so much fun, Pa just HAD to keep up the game. I'm pretty sure they burned the stroller when we left. It was for our best interest. If Adjoa ever sees that stroller again, she's going to be more excited than a kid at Disneyland.

Pearl Harbor

2010-01-02T18:20:00.007-07:00

We did the customary visit to Pearl Harbor. Robert really enjoyed it. This time around we also did the Bowfin tour, which was pretty cool. The audio tour informed me that submarines made up about 2% of the US Naval Fleet and were responsible for something like 80% of the attacks on enemy vessels. Pretty cool.

The audio tour - geared for families - presented the Bowfin to us as though we were new recruits. Hence all the 'recruit' references in my captions. I really got into it. Not that I'd really want to BE on a submarine for 2 years, it's just fun to visit.

There are some pictures of Adjoa doing a welcome back dance - I thought the action blurs were kind of cool - I like the way her dress looks.

We also went out to the USS Arizona Memorial. They show a video before and it's pretty sobering.

Finally, there are a couple pictures Robert took as we were headed back to the car - I looked down, and Adjoa was holding her dress up like a princess and muttering to herself. It was pretty cute. Please look at her and not my bum.

The Oahu Revealed guide book also had a little story about Pearl Harbor that we found interesting:

An Oversight Leads to a Spared Gas Station - and Victory in WWII

Say what you want about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor: Militarily, the plan was brilliantly conceived and executed. The level of surprise was only matched by the level of destruction, and Japanese losses were minimal. Although our aircraft carriers weren't there (by chance, not design), the Japanese nonetheless achieved their goals and did not make any mistakes....except for one - a mistake so giant, so glaring and so important that it possibly ended up costing Japan the war.

When Japanese warplanes were swarming around during the attack, their pilots were so single-mindedly focused on destroying ships and planes that they totally ignored row after row of conspicuous white fuel tanks above the ground. In them was the fuel that powered all of America's Pacific Fleet. If a single bomb had been dropped on just one of the tanks, it could have set them all ablaze. It would have taken a year to replace that fuel. A year that our aircraft carriers would have sat idle without any gas. A year when the Japanese navy would have had free reign. A year that could have changed the outcome of WWII.

Having dodged that potentially fatal bullet, the navy accelerated a plan that was already in the works - building giant gas tanks underground beneath Red Hill to hold the quarter billion gallons of fuel needed to power the Navy's Pacific Fleet. (Large naval ships can only travel a few fee per gallon.) To this day if you are near the H-3 and H-201 freeway intersection and look mauka (toward the mountain), you will see Red Hill, the Pacific Fleet's gas station and the Navy's response to the Japanese biggest blunder of the Pacific War.

Oh, and here's a quick little vid-gem. Robert was taking a video - his intent was to talk about the Wet Guns, but because I'm soooooo hysterical, he started laughing and stopped. That's the story I'm sticking with. It sounds better than "I totally got into the whole recruit thing from the audio tour and I'm so dorky that my husband laughs at me." In case you miss it, yes I did say rather proudly, "I'm a good recruit!" I was just passing on what my commanding officer told me, folks.

Maui

2009-12-31T17:12:00.012-07:00

For our Christmas present, my mom took us all over to Maui. We stayed in an amazing resort and went on a whale tour boat. The only downer - it wasn't long enough. We all loved it and agreed that an additional day or two would have made it the bees knees. Not that it wasn't the bees knees, because it was. It would have been even more bees knees - bigger bees knees.

We stopped by the Maui Aquarium because we had some time before check-in. It was good, but I like the one on Oahu just as well and it's cheaper. Robert and Adjoa were posing for a picture and the woman next to us told her son she wanted to take his picture too. He said "OK!" and then ran over and joined Adjoa and Robert. It was so funny. The mom was totally embarrassed. So if you see a random boy with Robert and Adjoa at the aquarium, you'll know who it is.

Our whale tour was with the Pacific Whale Foundation. There was a TON of awesome activity during our trip out. We saw a mom and baby do a double breech, lots of surface activity like flipper slaps and tail slaps and a whale breached about 30 yards from the boat. We were right in front and had an awesome view. A co-tourist got it on vid, so I'll post that. You can hear me screaming and Nana and Pa talking. It's pretty cool. Not that we are talking - the whale part of it is what's cool. I did get some fun pictures of the whale, and I got a vid of one that was further away.

After the breach that was in front of our boat, every time we saw something Adjoa would say, "It wasn't big enough, mommy!"

A funny story - one evening Robert and I went out to walk along the beach and I told Adjoa she needed to brush her teeth while we were gone. I told her she needed to be ready for bed when we got back. {She stayed behind in the suite with Nana and Pa} Pa was in the shower and she kept trying to go into the bathroom. Nana kept getting after her, telling Adjoa she needed to wait until Pa was done. Adjoa kept saying something, but Nana didn't catch it. Finally, Adjoa broke down - Nana asked when she was getting so upset.

She said, "I'm going to be in big, big trouble."
"Why?" asked Nana.
"Because mommy told me to do something. I have to brush my teeth or I'm going to be in big-big trouble."

Funny girl. At least she understands that she need to do what she's been asked.

Slide show of Maui

Vid of Big Whale Breach

Whale activity further away.

Really cool Banyan Tree near the docks

Secret Vid of Pa doing a funny dance to entertain Adjoa.

Another Christmas

2009-12-28T16:49:00.002-07:00

When we arrived, Nana and Pa had a few Christmas presents for Adjoa. She was starting to get the hang of it and it was cute to watch her.

The first couple days were spent relaxing with minimal sight seeing. Just as Robert requested.

We visited the Birthing Stones - they are right in the middle of a sugar cane field. The sign at this site says chiefs and chiefesses came to this site for the birth of their children. A child born here was assured high-ranking status.

My mom has the Oahu Revealed guidebook {it's excellent, by the way} and here's what it says about these stones:

Royal birthing procedures were different from what commoners went through. When the time came, the woman would arrive at what was then a secret spot, and in the presence of 36 male chiefs she would position herself at certain stones
and in certain ways to give birth while they watched. (Gee, that must have created quite the awkward moment…) Within minutes of birth the child was taken away, and the mother would not see her child again until it was grown. This was to ensure that the child would not be murdered. Infanticide in high-ranking families was common among rival chiefs.

My mom wanted me to sit on the stones so she could take a picture. There were quite a few people around and I was a little embarrassed, so my dad did. She asked me again, and I declined. So Robert, my kind, considerate, loving husband yells, "Get on the birthin' stones, Jessica!" I was embarrassed - mortified, really - but finally decided it would be better than another public humiliation.

I also took a couple pictures of a nice, vibrant sunset on the beach.

A {Quick} Christmas

2009-12-25T16:34:00.005-07:00

We had a very quick Christmas and then headed off to Hawaii to visit Nana and Pa. Adjoa opened a few presents and I managed to snap a pic and take a vid before it blazed by.

Aren't her Christmas Eve jammies the cutest??? They were called Partridge in a Pear Tree. She loved them and insisted on taking them to Hawaii. She'll be soooo hot, but oh well!

I thought I might be able to sneak by this year without really doing all the Christmas stuff - it's easier when your child has never experienced Christmas.

Our Thanksgiving week in Seattle killed that hope. Rus put up the tree and the kids got to help - Adjoa was so excited and enthralled by the beauty of the tree, I felt obligated to decorate at our house too. And of course, a tree isn't a tree without some presents underneath! I Wrapped up a few things I had purchased prior, and I made a quick dash to the store after I got home from Ghana.

It was fun - but what was MORE fun??? Hoping on a plane and heading to Hawaii.

We all decided it would be ok with us if Nana and Pa stayed in Hawaii. It doesn't seem so lavish when you say you are going to visit your parents!

Merry Christmas from Ghana!

2009-12-24T08:45:00.004-07:00

I took this sweet vid of some school children practicing Christmas songs. I think it's such an appropriate image of Christmas: endearing little voices in Africa singing about the birth of the Savior of the world, asking us all to adore Him.

Merry Christmas!

News from Ghana

2009-12-20T09:03:00.005-07:00

Lois and I went to Ghana for a couple weeks - it was AMAZING. We got so much accomplished and there has been so much growth and development at Luckyhill and the school since I was there last.

We didn't get to spend much time at the school - we had meetings and appointments in Accra nearly every day, and I regret not being able to spend more time with the children, but we made huge strides in their future well-being and the development of the community. After the first of the year, I will be busy writing proposals for various non-profit organizations at work in Ghana, hopefully persuading them to come out and work at the school and community. The next couple years are going to be very exciting for Luckyhill!

The school now provides regular, full-time employment to about 20 people in the community, and we had the opportunity to meet with many other members of the community who do periodic work or construction work there. It is such a blessing in my life to work for a cause that makes a difference to so many lives. The school is truly a blessing for the entire community.

Here are a couple projects in the works {because I know you are dying to know}:

Here's some land near the school we have picked out. We want to buy it and start a community garden. It's large enough we also plan to have space for some animals to be kept. The garden and animals will greatly improve the nutrition of many members of the community - decreasing disease and lowering the high death rate. Excess products from the garden and animals will be sold, creating more family income for many of the impoverished families in the area. We hope to start the project with 30-50 families from the community, and then eventually spread it across the entire area, including as many families as we can.

Before:

{Almost} After:

Thanks to the generous work of two amazing men, the toilet situation at the school has vastly improved. Previously, all the children would just potty on the ground {note the pee spots surrounding the model in the first picture}. This is pretty typical in Ghana, as in most third-world countries. For obvious reasons, this is highly unsanitary - especially since most children don't own {or wear} shoes. We had two wonderful men work together with a Ghanaian engineer and his firm in Ghana to install two biofil digesters. They are pretty amazing. After about 3 years, they just scoop out the toilet and can use the nutrient-rich sand to help fertilize. We didn't get to see them finished, but the firm was hard at work installing them while we were there.

We have a major goal this year to begin providing a free lunch to all the school children {about 300}. Nearly all the families that attend the school are destitute, and the only meal the children receive is at school. Currently, many of the children are able to eat for free {determined by the school on who is in the most need} but we'd like to make sure every child has the opportunity to eat and is not expected to pay. All the families could certainly use the lunch money for other things - like providing dinner for the child too. We have also begun a scholarship program for deserving students whose parents cannot afford tuition (less than $50 a year). The program has begun to take off, and we have been able to provide many students with education they would not otherwise receive.

We are having additional running-water showers and toilets built for the children's home that is adjacent to the school. This is a home for school children who are orphaned, abandoned, or their families are so destitute they can no longer support the children. We have about 20 children who stay here, and 6-7 adults who provide full-time care and supervision. It's an amazing opportunity that keeps these older children off the street and in school. They learn valuable skills and get lots of English-speaking practice. Our greatest desire is to aide and assist these children - the children who will never have any other home - so they can eventually go out into the world and work and provide for their own families in the future.

So. That's what we were working on during our two weeks in Ghana. There are more projects and ideas, of course, but that's just a taste of what is to come!

So here's my unabashed plug for financial assistance:

If you would like to be a part of the growth and development of a little school and community in Ghana, please visit the Luckyhill International Foundation, Inc. website

www.luckyhill.org

and donate today. Currently, we are taking donations for the scholarship program and the nutrition program. If you'd like to donate to one of the other projects mentioned above, or would like to donate a different amount than listed on the website, you can send a check to:

Luckyhill International Foundation, Inc.

PO Box 521896

Salt Lake City, UT 84152

Thank you to everyone who has assisted in the growth of Luckyhill and the school this past year! It has been amazing!

A Week of Thanksgiving

2009-12-04T11:02:00.001-07:00

We spent the week of Thanksgiving in Seattle with Robert's sibs. It was a blast! We had so much fun being around {a portion of} the family. Adjoa LOVED it. She had so many cousins to play with every day and she fit right in.

She took to all the people and attention and even chaos like a duck to water. It was amazing. She's amazing, really. I hope she always feels that natural and easy around people.

Anyway, the highlights were captured by Rus and Kristy, and feature in the slide show below.

Keep your eyes out for the very popular {for Adjoa, anyway} Cinderella dress {I'm pretty sure she wore it every day}, moments after Adjoa bit her tongue for the umpteenth time, the new{!} baby, hard core gamers, hard core rock banders, Adjoa's first Christmas Tree, the ever popular Olivia {or as Adjoa has taken to calling her - "the little one". As opposed to Eliana who is the big one I guess} and of course, a very yummy dinner!

We had a blast Seattle!

I want to move.

Adjoa's School Work

2009-11-20T11:35:00.003-07:00

I've been saving up a few of Adjoa's school pictures. They always draw pictures of what they talked about at school that day. It's a great way for me to get information out of her. Without the pictures I'm left with conversations that go something like this:

M: What did you do at school today?
A: We took a nap. We ate lunch. We played outside all the time. And we sang songs. {She says this as she counts each item on her fingers. Like she made a point to remember her list and she's making sure she gets them all. Such dedication for so little information.}

So the pictures help a great deal.

Here's what she's been learning about lately:

Snow!

I got a lot of info on this one. Adjoa demonstrated how penguins walk. She went into great detail about how they slide around and how they catch goldfish to eat. She talked about their eggs and babies. And she was so excited to educate me on the fact that they live in the snow. She thought they were so lucky - playing in the snow all day. What a treat!

Mayflower. I particularly love the waves.

This one cracks me up. The brown and black arches are the bear's cave. The green is the grass. So what is the black circle around the bear???? I assumed it was the cave. Nope. Adjoa informed me that is a blanket for the bear to sleep on! Of course. What was I thinking?

A very fat chipmunk. With a very tiny head and lots of colorful splotches surrounding him.

On Account of it Being National Adoption Month

2009-11-13T16:14:00.001-07:00

I scanned these pictures a while ago and just realized I never posted them. Shame on me. Oh well, it makes for a great November post. November is National Adoption Month, so to commemorate adoption and Adjoa's family, I'll share these pictures.

Adjoa wanted to draw a picture for her uncle (birth-father's brother) and her aunt (birth-mother's sister) and send them to "Ah-free-cuh" Once they were drawn, it also became necessary to paint them in a really colorful manner. Because when something is really super colorful, it's always better.

Here's the picture she drew for her aunt.

Her aunt in making fu-fu. It was very important to make sure her aunt had shoes - critical, actually. She also wrote {with a little help from me} I LOVE YOU! It was also necessary to draw "lots of houses on the street". "Lots" turned into just two. There is also a chicken - can you see it? It's in the red blob area.

Anyway. the chicken is also very important. Adjoa told me a story about the chicken as she was drawing it. Once, it bit her finger and she cried and cried. But her uncle was there and he held her and gave her hugs and it was all better. That's pretty much exactly how the story went. lol. Sometimes it amazes me that she remembers some things. I hope she always remembers, even though I know it's not really possible. I just hope one day, when she returns to Ghana, she will feel at home there and love it the way I do.

Here's her uncle's picture. She drew herself in this one. His house was there and she felt it was necessary to make sure there was a door so he could go inside. She also wanted to include the big truck that he drives - complete with the exhaust pipe that she assured me is where the beep-beep noise comes from. She insisted that it wouldn't be able to make the noise if she didn't draw it. Funny girl. This on says I LIKE TO GIVE YOU HUGS. I'm pretty sure she wanted to say that because of the chicken story.

They are pretty cute pictures and I was so proud of her for what she remembered and that she was thinking of them. She is so sweet and she really loves her family still in Ghana.

So You Think You Can Dance? Shoot. Adjoa KNOWS She Can

2009-11-12T15:30:00.008-07:00

One of my fav shows is SYTYCD I've watched it religiously for years. And I have to admit sometimes I miss the days when people messed up, or fell, or forgot the dance. The dancer's caliber is so much higher now than in years passed, a major screw up hasn't happened forever.

Of course, it's also getting harder to wow everyone when all the routines are great.

Even though it's one of my favorites, I haven't blogged about it recently like I used to. Mostly because we have Adjoa now, so it cuts into my blogging, but also because instead of blogging about the routines, I have to watch them a second time. I get too caught up in watching Adjoa.

I had some terrific vids from Season 5, but they were lost in the great Memory Card Erasure at the end of the Hawaii trip this summer.

I'll post a few vids from the fall season so far.

Warning, this might only be cute and adorable and funny to mommy and grandparents.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-11-11T15:03:00.003-07:00

Happy Anniversary!

I get a kick out of this picture every time I see it. lol.

I think it's pretty clear who gets in trouble all the time. Not that he cares. I'm pretty sure he loves to rile me up.

It's a Good Thing Kids are so Cute... and that they know when you've reached your limit and they turn on the charm and melt your heart

2009-11-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

After just over 2 hours of trying to get Adjoa to go to bed - I was at the end of my rope.

There had been lots of crying and lots of insisting "But I'm not tired!" and lots of ignoring, cajoling, begging, promising, bribing, threatening, etc. on our part. lol.

So. just over 2 hours into it, I'm in her room gritting my teeth, asking her to pretty please go to sleep.

"I'm not tired." She insists simply.

"Adjoa, it's WAY passed your bed time. It's soooo late. You need to go to sleep."

"I'm not tired."

"Ok. Just lay there then. You don't have to sleep, just lay there and relax."

"I don't want to relax."

"Fine. But no playing. No singing. No talking. Everyone else is tired and trying to sleep. You need to be quiet."

"I will sit. I'm not tired. I don't want to lay. I don't want to relax."

"Sit. Just don't make any noise."

About 5 minutes later, I'm amazed that she is actually being quiet finally. I peek in her room to see this:

I think she fell asleep sitting up - probably seconds after I left her room. Her bum was sticking up in the air so far I started laughing out loud. I couldn't really get a good angle to show the height - but you get the idea.

I straightened her body out, covered her up, tucked her in, kissed her, and by then I had forgotten all about how frustrated I had been with this stubborn child who 'was not tired'.

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!

2009-10-31T23:45:00.007-06:00

Or just tiger.

Adjoa looked really cute in her Halloween costume and she had a blast. She's at such a fun age to be experiencing all these things for the first time. S he's old enough to get what's going on, and young enough to be ridiculously excited about it. And of course, it's all new to her - her absolute first time for everything.

I loved how excited she got about pumpkins - and then when she discovered that we get to cut them all up and make funny faces with them, she about died from excitement.

We went costume shopping and she insisted on the tiger, because "tigers are scary! Rrraar!!!" Even though she was way more cute than scary, we let her think she was absolutely terrifying.

The week was full of fun for her - she got to wear her costume to school and participated in a Halloween party there. Costumes were encouraged for her music class the next day, and she got to go Trick-or-Treating at Robert's work. She had a pumpkin-bucket full of candy before Halloween even got here!

Robert took her out to some neighbor's houses while I stayed home to hand out treats. She had a blast! They took Eden as they walked around, and Eden was very worried every time Adjoa went up to knock on someone's door. Cute how concerned she was for her little buddy.

All in all, it was a fun holiday and it's making me really excited for all the upcoming celebrations!

Here's a picture of our adorable -

uh, I mean scary - tiger!

After a long, fun week of Halloween Adjoa was still all smiles! {Probably because mommy had LOTS of candy left over}

Food Issues Update

2009-10-29T16:32:00.002-06:00

Ok. So I spent 4 days allowing Adjoa to eat however much she desired. Just to see.

I wrote down everything she ate - to make my list easier for blogging purposes, instead of stating 1/2 an apple in the morning, and then 1/2 an apple in the evening, I'll just write 1 apple. So, the list won't be in order and exact quantities as eaten, but a daily total. Does that make sense? {If I have to explain it, I should probably just write it out as eaten! But alas, 'tis too late for that}

She also had water, milk, soy milk, and a bit of juice throughout the day that I didn't really track.

Day 1

6 pieces of french toast {as in 6 slices of bread made up to be french toast}
4 carrots
1 cup soup
1 slice of wheat bread w/cheese
1 cup peaches
Baked potato with vegetarian chili and cheese
4-5 bites of apple pie

Day 2

3 whole wheat, blueberry pancakes with applesauce. {She doesn't like it when I put blueberries in the pancakes. This even resulted in a tantrum. That said, she still ate 3. I had 2 and Robert had 3}
Apple
Whole turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread
5 baby carrots
1 apple
1 cup soup
2 cups peaches

Day 3

6 or 7 pancakes {I lost track at one point}
6 crackers with peanut butter
1 whole tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread
5 carrots
1 apple
1 cup vegetarian chili
1 hard boiled egg

Day 4

1 bowl Cheerios
1/2 apple
Crackers with hummus
Quesadilla with salsa
Whole tuna sandwich and whole wheat bread
1 tomato
1 brownie
2 cups of applesauce

That being said, there were many times throughout the day she would come and tell me she was hungry and I would give her a drink and send her away. Often, I was sure she stopped eating only because the food was gone. Especially if she really likes the food.

So you see, back when I cut her off at three pancakes, I was really cutting her off from 6 or 7, not just 4.

Thoughts?

That's a lot of food, right? And this is pretty normal for her if I don't cut her off. She doesn't really go in waves or anything that correlates with growth spurts. Actually, she probably eats even more and begs for food more often and cries and throws fits {in relation to food} more frequently when she's about ready to grow a bunch.

When I took her to her pediatrician a while back - when school was starting - she wasn't overweight or anything and the Dr said she was healthy. When she wakes up in the morning her stomach is flat and normal looking. As she starts eating, it balloons out.

It's weird. I went back to controlling her portions for her.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts!

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

2009-10-24T16:33:00.005-06:00

My book club was scheduled to read March in a couple months and I had nothing, at the moment, in hand to read. So I moseyed over to the library and peeked about for March. It was not available. But Year of Wonders was.

The subtitle: A Novel of the Plague was just too irresistible. Plus I liked the font used for the title. It's also a pretty thin book, so I didn't feel like I was really committing a whole lot in case my spontaneity and impetuous book selection didn't pan out.

But then I loved it.

Based on a small village, Eyam, Brooks encountered in England, the novel is about the so-called "plague" town and what happened when the town was infected with the bubonic plague. In 1666, they willingly shut themselves off from all contact with outsiders until the plague ran it's course. Which ended up taking about a year.

I really liked the book. I thought it was well written and had some nice everyday-type moments that helped the reader really get a feel for the time and place. It's one of those blessed books that comes along and makes you think you could read everything the author has written and like it all. It made me VERY excited to read March and I added Book of the People to my list. {I didn't even put it at the bottom. I snuck it in closer to the top and am right now, several months and many books later, considering it as my next. I wonder how long the hold line is at the library?}

Onward. After all that you are now going to be surprised. I hated the ending. I will not spoil it, but it was terrible. Came-from-left-field-forced sort of ending. Which was sad. But the rest of the book was delicious enough to ignore the ending. It was simple; I just sort of re-wrote the ending in my head. I promise I held true to the character.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

2009-10-24T15:33:00.003-06:00

Prepare to be inundated with book reviews as I go through my list of the things I've read in the last few months and blog.

I read this one several months back, so I don't know how much I'll remember - for instance, I can't remember why I even picked it up, but I think it was because of some-thing I read some-where on some-one's blog. Or maybe I was at the library for some other purpose {all books should be treated with purpose} and saw it and thought, "oh yeah! I remember wanting to read this at some point and never got around to it and looky here, it's checked in and everything and *insert whatever other book I had intentions for here* isn't. So I'll just get this one." But probably a little bit of both.

Plus. There's something about the fashion from this time period that makes me tingle. Or rather, the fashion of the ludicrously wealthy, and I'm certain the fashion of the time dictates the literary quality of the stories gleaned from said era.

Ahem. Back to the book.

Not particularly historically accurate throughout, but I didn't want to read a history book and I warrant a certain about of poetic license is what makes historical fiction good and fun to read {i.e. NOT a history book}.

Centered on Mary Boleyn, the story swirls around her and her family's experience in the court of Henry VIII. I had mixed feelings about Mary. I felt sorry for her most of the time, but there were also many times I felt she just let things happen. Of course, the sixteenth century didn't offer much of a voice to women - especially women who stood against their family.

Some historical hearsay was taken as pretty literal in the story, which left me a little uncomfortable, but it also made for a more interesting read on the characters, too. Considering the length of the book, it was a quick read and quite engrossing.

I think I'd chalk it up to more entertaining than literary, but there is certainly enough there to have a good, fun book club discussion. Which makes sense. I'm pretty sure this is a wildly popular book club book.

That's all I really remember about it at the moment. I'd recommend it to most people.

RE: My Mantra and The Terrible Three and One-Thirds

2009-10-22T15:08:00.005-06:00

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted comments so far - I should have turned to my blogging friends sooner! We've spent weeks in chaos and turmoil lately and I have a sneaking suspicion some of it could have been avoided! Well, maybe I would just be a little more sane, but still, that's huge.

I really like the bean idea. I like being able to take away a bean as discipline. Because, knowing Adjoa, there will be times when giving up a chance to put a sticker on the board will not really make a difference to her, but losing a bean would. I also like that I can carry beans around with me and reward her even if we are not at home, etc. It makes for more immediate consequences, and in my ahem dog training experience immediate reward/discipline is always best.

Sadly, I did just admit that most of my parenting techniques come from what I learned training dogs - and most specifically, a crazy, hyper Weimaraner. lol.

Behavior modification is behavior modification, right?

I'm going to keep a food record for Adjoa. I'll spend a few days putting it together and then post the results on the blog. There is definately something going on with her and food right now, and I can't quite figure it out. It started a few weeks ago and at first I thought she was just prepping for a big growing spurt, but it's gotten very nearly out of control lately and I'm not sure what's behind it all.

It seems late {9 months!} for her to be worried about being hungry like she was in Ghana. I assumed she had figured out long ago that there's no shortage of food here. She never really went through it when she came home, so maybe it's just a little delayed... I don't know.

My Mantra Yesterday: I Love My Child, I Love My Child, I Love My Child

2009-10-20T13:13:00.003-06:00

There are no words for yesterday. Or even the last few days in general.

I can't bear to go into detail, so I will be forced to paint large strokes for you and you will need to use your imaginations. Ok, medium strokes. Large strokes aren't that much fun. You need a little detail.

Adjoa was mad because I told her 4 pancakes was too many and she would be sick {I need to post about the food issues we have been experiencing as well}. I caved a little, and cut one in half so she ate 3 1/2 pancakes. I had two. Robert ate three. Really, she should have been full. But she was mad. She ate the half pancake and wanted more. I explained again that she would be sick if she ate more. She started licking her plate.

I asked her to stop and explained that it's bad manners and "gross" to lick your plate like that. I took the plate away and set it down. She glared at me. Pick up the plate. And started licking again.

Adjoa, I asked you not to do that.

I took the plate away again and set it down. She glared. She picked it up. She licked it.

Adjoa! I said no.

So I took the plate away and put it in the dishwasher. I turn around and she is glaring at me, licking her knife and fork. I take them away and put them in the dishwasher. I turn around and she is glaring at me, licking her cup.

Robert is aghast. This is pretty much the first time he witnessed her deliberately disobeying me.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was time to take out Adjoa's hair and re-do it. The day before, I really talked it up. Told her we could watch princess movies and she would get beads and braids and all that jazz. She was excited.

I put her in the tub {much easier to take out the old 'do when the hair is wet}. She starts with being silly. Then it morphs into obnoxious. And suddenly, I have this child who refuses to cooperate with me. I warn her that she won't get to play in her bubble bath while I take out her hair if she keeps it up. She keeps it up.

I drain the tub. She stops the drain.

I ask her to get out of the tub. She lays down.

I had my fill. I pick her up, sopping wet, and carry her to her room. I was holding her away from me because I didn't want to get wet. She started fighting me. She was so slippery. I dropped her. I felt terrible. She was mad at me. She began again with her fit-throwing.

I left the room and told her I would come back when she was ready for me to do her hair. I few minutes later I hear her in the bathroom. I walk in and she has this totally guilty look on her face. I figure it's because I caught her out of her room. I pick her up and carry her back to her room and begin taking her hair out. She had cut off two of her little ponies clear down to the elastic!!!

I was horrified! 9 months of growing her hair out wasted! The hair is like 1/4 inch long! The section is 1 inch wide, and 2 inches long. I wanted to cry. I was beyond words. She had school pictures the next day.

I think we are going to have to basically shave her head. 9 months! No more cute beads. No more braids. We are back to headbands. I am distraught.

~~~~~~~~~~

More fits, crying, fighting me while I try to do her hair. She refuses to talk to me. She just suddenly starts crying and stomping around. 20 minutes of tantrums.

I called Robert and asked him to come home early from work.

~~~~~~~~~~

I Love My Child. I Love My Child. I Love My Child.

When are those scholastic books going to get here????

The Terrible Three and One-Thirds

2009-10-17T12:43:00.000-06:00

You know what I'm talking about, right? You've all experienced this, right? Your sweet little two year old who is so obedient and cheery suddenly turns about 3 1/3 and it's like waking up to a nightmare.

The fits.

The scowls.

The power struggles.

I spend 3/4 of my day with a child who is either crying or deliberately defying me on some level, 1/4 wondering where my sweet little girl went and who {or what} has taken her place, and about 20 minutes of sheer joy {or rather, what used to be her normal behavior}.

Remember this incident? Great. Occasionally since then, Adjoa was naughty and when presented with her discipline options {no TV show today, or Time-Out} she would always request a "beating". {I want to be perfectly clear, here. By "beating" we are meaning a swat on the behind. Ghana lingo for any discipline of a physical nature is "beating"; they even use that term when one child hits another}

Anyway, she likes it quick and dirty, I suppose, and sometimes I totally understand. It's like ripping off a band aid. Sure it hurts, but doing it quick and getting it over with is better than sitting in a chair quietly for 3 WHOLE MINUTES or forgoing your TV show for the day.

Disciplining a child who spent most of her life with nothing {and who received far harsher punishment I could ever dish out under much more strict rules} is hard. Sometimes I think it's impossible.

I tried taking away toys. She doesn't care. She can play and play for hours without a single toy. When she is in Time-Out she just sits there and sings and sings and doesn't care. She can sit still FOREVER. I thought about taking away school for serious infractions because she loves it so much, but that punishes me too and I don't think that's fair!

Sometimes I think a swat will at least make me feel like she was disciplined. Yeash.

I'm going to try a new thing. {Thanks to input from my mom and my lovely neighbor Amy}

Like pretty much every three year old on the planet, Adjoa loves stickers. So I got a blank job chart and some stickers. She will get to put a sticker on the chart when she makes a good choice. Like obeying mommy when she doesn't want to, or choosing to not throw a fit, etc. I ordered a whole bunch of books from Scholastic - about $3 or $4 each. When she gets to the goal line, she will be able to choose a new story. I'm hoping it works. She loves books and stickers. She really feels good when she does things that make mom and dad happy. Plus, I think it will start to teach her that attitude is a choice.

At least that is my hope. The books should be arriving soon {I'm counting down the days}. I thought it would be important for her to see the books so she knows what she's working towards. Any input there? Do I just get going on it, or is it best for her to actually see the stories, etc.?

Also, I'm wondering if I should have a smaller goal line too - about halfway to the book line, where she can choose a simple prize or a treat.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm desperate and open to just about anything.

Handy Mommy II

2009-10-14T12:35:00.000-06:00

Oh and I made this, too!

Adjoa loves it.

Handy Mommy

2009-10-12T17:57:00.006-06:00

Sew I've been busy.... Get it?!?!?! Because I've been busy sewing. {hmm, maybe I've had too much codine-laced cough syrup lately. I've been really sick recently too.}

Anyway, when my mom was here {weeks and weeks ago for a short visit from the not-so-main-land} we had our usual sewing get together with the ladies. I picked up a couple new patterns and some fun fabric and began whipping this little number up. It was super simple, but really quite fun.

I really stepped out of my comfort zone here. For some reason, clothes scare me to death. I don't understand half of what the directions direct, so I usually abandon the pattern shortly after reading through it. I had lots of help nearby this time. Thanks to mom, Auntie Jill, and Auntie Cathy I finally finished my first attempt at clothes.

Now if the snow will hold off long enough for Adjoa to wear it a little, that would be truly awesome!

Here's a close-up of the apple on the little apron. I loved the cute "A". 'A' for apple, and of course, 'A' for Adjoa!

Visiting Gam

2009-10-11T17:33:00.001-06:00

So weeks and weeks ago when my mom was here for a visit we went up to see family in Ogden. I took this picture of Adjoa and my grandma, aka Gam. It's pretty cute.

Adjoa found a jump rope and was practicing. It was so cute, I had to take a quick video. My mom was talking on the phone, so you might just want to turn your sound off or something. It's just background noise and if I knew super fancy tricks on my computer I'd just edit out the sound anyway. But, sadly, I know not these super fancy tricks, so you will either have to A) suffer or B) turn your sound off. Your choice. Enjoy.

A Three-Year-Old's Reivew of Conference

2009-10-04T17:52:00.000-06:00

Saturday went well. I think Adjoa even lasted through all the sessions. Sunday proved to be a bit much. As you can see, she fell asleep during the opening song. {every time the choir started singing, she raced to find a hymn book so she could 'sing along'. nevermind she didn't know any of the words! she's so funny!}

A Landscape Composed by Adjoa

2009-10-04T13:09:00.003-06:00

Adjoa was asked to draw a picture of her family at church last week. This is what came home.

I added labels to explain everything she drew.

She had some help with drawing the chuck-it Robert is holding and the ball {this is a fetch toy we use when playing with Eden}

I love that we have Monster as part of our family. That's his name, by the way, Monster. He plays with Adjoa all the time. I'm not sure if this is a Halloween thing or if our child is nuts. Probably a little of both. Don't worry. He's not a scary monster. Just a monster who growls and chases and occasionally possesses our child.

You can't really tell, but apparently she drew herself trying to go inside the house, but the door was locked and they key is somewhere by the cars. I wasn't really clear on what exactly was the key.

Her details crack me up. Like the fact that she drew all those cars parked on our street {pretty accurate, too}. The paper-bark maple we just planted in our yard even has an orange-ish bark. And I don't know if you can tell, but Mom and Adjoa have glittery bows and earrings. Dad was about to get a glittery bow and earring too, but Adjoa was convinced that maybe a tie would be better for daddy. Oh, and Eden has a glitter collar and glitter bone.

Anyway, just thought I'd share. It makes it easier to throw some of these things away when I can scan them and save them here.

One Hot Mama - or in other words, Adjoa created a mixed-media portrait of me at school yesterday

2009-09-18T14:49:00.005-06:00

So Adjoa brought this sexy number home from school and proudly {and very excitedly} informed me that it was... wait for it... mommy!

I was touched. I was honored. I was impressed with her natural talent {and very pleased she endowed me with killer long legs instead of the short stubs I walk around on}.

Did you notice the highlights? Love it! Did you noticed she made sure to give me shoes? Did you pick up on the crazed googly eyes? She totally nailed it.

Of course, I don't look particularly "happy" in the picture - my smile is a tad on the straight side. Is she sending me some kind of message that I need to be a happier mommy???

Oh well, at least it's a big mouth, which is also quite accurate.

Cute Hair and a Sure Fire Way to Put Your Child to Sleep

2009-09-14T17:20:00.007-06:00

Adjoa's hair is finally getting longer {actually, it's grown about an inch every month but when you start with practically nothing, it still takes a while}. I have started experimenting with it.

It's fun, but kind of a lot of pressure. I always do it at night with a movie on. She sits longer, and then if it doesn't turn out, I can just take it out in the morning. I typically end up changing my mind when I start. I've tried to cornrow a couple different times, but I really think I need the hair longer because I'm inexperienced. I'm sure it's long enough to cornrow, but it's not long enough for me to cornrow.

I learned to braid crossing over the top - when you cornrow you bring the hair behind the back. So I pretty much have to re-train my hands. I have to change how I hold the hair and everything. So yeah, I need more hair for that.... Maybe I should practice on one of Adjoa's dolls or something....

I've been doing flat twists instead. It's way easier and has a cornrow-type look.

Anyway, here are some pictures of recent endeavors.

Just some little braids in the front with butterfly beads and clips. I left the back in an afro puff. I really love that look for Adjoa. This is what I ended up doing after one of my failed cornrow attempts. I had done flat twists several times recently and really wanted to try something different and use these new beads I bought. Turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. And I do.

Finger curls. I liked this look and it held for about a week. All I did was twist and twist and twist the little locs around my finger. It's important to get the twist pretty close to the head so the curls stay in longer. The twists I was lazy about started looked a little sloppy after a couple days. This took FOREVER. Like nearly 3 hours. It's all that twisting. Super easy, but very time consuming. That's why I left them in for a week.

Here's what the twist-out looks like. After the finger curls started to look a little tired, I just split the big curls into about 5 or 6 sections. The spirals stayed intact and looked super cute. This is a great way to naturally relax the curl. Braids work well as natural relaxers of curl too. Robert loves this look. Adjoa grew tired of it after about a day because so many people were touching her hair. By the end of the day she'd had it. It lasted about 3 days, and then the back was looking seriously nappy. It washed out really easily.

Ok. Now as promised, my sure-fire way of putting Adjoa to sleep. Wait for it... NPR. LOL. I'm not kidding. As soon as I turn it on {in the car or at home} she's out in a matter of minutes. It's probably not surprising or original in any way, but if you are longing for your kids to sleep and you want to catch up on some news, flick the radio on and it's as good as done!

P.S. I'm having some technical difficulties with blogger right now, so I hope this post looks right.

Swim Lessons, New Fridge, Blub and a bit of Glee

2009-09-09T16:40:00.007-06:00

Adjoa's swim teacher gave us a cute little certificate outlining all Adjoa learned to do in her second swim class this summer.

Just so you all know, Adjoa has successfully completed the following swim skills:

Jump off diving board with assistance
Back Float with assistance
Superman (Streamline)
Blowing bubbles under water
Circle Arms
Flutter Kick
Spiderman

And in case you were wondering how cute she looks doing those things, here's a picture to give you an idea. She's so brave! She loves jumping off the diving board, as you can tell. She can even swim unassisted for a little bit.

In other news, our house is determined to destroy us. The garbage disposal went out in the apartment downstairs a little bit ago and the refrigerator died a rather untimely death. Without any warning. So we also had to buy a new fridge. Ugh. If we make it through the fall without a single unexpected expense, it will be a huge blessing.

Our sod was installed (the same day our fridge died) and it's starting to look less soddish and more like grass. Pictures will be posted shortly. I'd like to wait a bit so it's more healthy-looking and not in shock before I show the world our latest landscape development.

There are a couple cute Adjoa sayings I want to make sure I get written down so I don't forget. She used to say "l" for "r" so FROG would be FLOG. As in, "Ma! Look! A Gleen Flog!" It was so cute and endearing. She doesn't do that anymore and sometimes it makes me a little sad. {She also used to call me Ma instead of Mom. I miss that too. Which is a surprise to me because I felt like an old pioneer grandmother when she would say "Ma"}

Right now she says BLUB instead of BLOOD. She bites her lip or tongue several times a week, poor girl, and inevitably, she will stick her tongue out and ask,

Mom! Do I have BLUB?

The blub carries over and she conjugates it well. "Mom, are you blubbing?" lol. We get a kick out of it on a daily basis.

She also seems to think slobbery and strawberry are interchangeable. It makes for some interesting dinner conversations.

On a personal note. I can't believe I haven't posted yet about Glee. Have any of you seen this? I was super excited when we saw the pilot in the spring. I thought for sure it was going to be a summer show. I think the pilot was so popular they decided to wait until fall. Well, it about killed me to wait all summer for this new show. It's on tonight and I'm in 7th heaven.

Perfect line-up. So You Think You Can Dance {yes, I watched that all spring and never once blogged about it. My how things change when you have kids!} and Glee. I think Wednesdays are perfect.

Adjoa Begins Her Own Little Life - Translation: She Started School this Week

2009-08-30T21:11:00.008-06:00

Adjoa started Preschool this week. She was so excited I thought she would burst.

Adjoa's first day of school - I love how proud she looks. You can just tell she thinks she's so grown up.

It's a surreal feeling when your little one starts off on her own little life. She will have friends and know people Robert and I will never meet. It's exciting. It's heartbreaking. It's hard to let go of that control - especially for a control freak like.... uh, me. {I was going to try to blame that one on Robert, but everyone knows that wouldn't fly}

Speaking of Adjoa making friends we will never meet, she has an imaginary friend now. His name is Eric. As in Prince Eric. Hey, if you are going to go to the trouble of imagining, you might as well go big, right? I think we picked him up in Hawaii because he appeared shortly thereafter. {Pictures, etc. will be posted shortly. We had a memory card meltdown and lost everything on the last day of the trip. My mom had a co-worker take a look at it and he was able to, by some miracle of technology, restore the pictures. I'm waiting on the memory card to arrive in the mail and you will have your pics, etc.}

Anyway, back to Eric. He's a good friend. She got in a little trouble the other day and I was talking to her about it when all of a sudden she says:

"Ariel!" {That's what Eric calls her, of course} "Ariel! Come here!"

"Mom, Eric is calling me. I have to go!"

And she took of running. I was too busy laughing to realize I was in the middle of explaining why she shouldn't do whatever and I let her get away with it. He's a really good friend.

Last night I was watching some TV show and she was supposed to be in bed. She comes in and asks if she can watch TV with me.

"Nope. You are supposed to be in bed and this is a Mommy-show." Meaning I need my personal space, please.

"Let me sit with you?"

"Nope. Because if you sit with me you will watch the show and you are supposed to be in bed and this is a Mommy-show."

She looks at the space on the sofa just to my left.

"But Mom. Eric is sitting with you."

Well played, Adjoa. Well played.

So I did the only thing I could think of.... Wait for it...

"Ariel! Ariel! I'm in your room! It's time for bed!"

"Adjoa! Eric is calling you! Did you hear? He said it's time for bed."

How pathethic is that? I used my daughter's imaginary friend to do what I could not. But hey, I learned it from her.

MIB: Missing In Blogging

2009-07-27T11:59:00.000-06:00

Well it has been forever, I know.

We've had the normal business-of-life in the last month, and the icing on the cake has included {but is not limited to}

Collecting, planning, and executing the yard/bake sale after weeks and weeks of rain. {It went VERY well, by the way, thanks to everyone!}
Working ever so slowly on the front-yard landscape project: getting the yard leveled and terraced, installing sprinklers {which we had to do on our own because the leveling and terracing was nearly double the estimate}
Lawn mower breaking. OK. So Robert ran over a very large rock and we had to replace the blade. After replacing the blade he made it once around the yard and it ran out of gas. He filled up the tank and it hasn't worked since. In free moments {when not battling the sprinkler system} he's tried everything he can think of. His newest plan as of a couple days ago is to take it all apart and put it back together again. Heaven have mercy.
Adjoa's swim lessons
The washer/dryer breaking and needing to be replaced
The roof leaking
Discovering, as the temperatures rise, that our AC unit is about 1/3 the size it should be {a big thank you to the people who owned the home prior and installed it}. It's only about 4 years old, but it's now running like it's over 15 years old because of the strain of being over-worked.
4th of July
During installation of the new dryer, we discovered that when the venting system was installed, it was screwed together. It has fallen apart inside the wall and the inability to properly vent is most likely what ruined the other 2 dryers we've purchased. Robert had to tear into the wall to access the vent and install a new one.
I've been super busy with work - which is really good considering the price tag on the above items, but still eats up your time faster than you can blink an eye.
I'm a co-presenter for the National Families Supporting Adoption Conference this weekend
Adjoa's 3rd Birthday
My grandma passed away
I was asked to give the eulogy at the funeral

I think there is more, but I'm starting to get a little stressed out just thinking about those things.

Anyway, I have some good pictures and videos to share {I did manage to get out the camera once or twice in the last month} Hopefully I'll be able to get everyone caught up this week. That's my goal. There. I said it. It's in writing. I'm as committed as I can be. Wish me luck!

And just maybe I'll have enough time to check out your blogs too! I've missed out on everyone's life in the last month.

Yard/Bake Sale

2009-06-25T09:01:00.003-06:00

So we finally have a weekend that appears to be full of sunshine instead of rain.

We will be moving forward with our yard and bake sale for Saturday. If you have donations (items to sell, or baked goods to donate) please bring them on over. And of course, please stop by and say hello if you can! We'll be starting at 8 am.

The money raised will go towards our adoption expenses.

Thanks to everyone for your love and support!

Mommy's Gonna Buy You a Billy Goat... and transport it home in a way that is nothing short of genius!

2009-06-24T11:28:00.005-06:00

So my friend Full Plate Mom posted this picture on her blog today. I about died.

This is quite possibly the funniest picture I've seen in a while. FPM had this to say about the picture:

I didn't take the pic, nor did I witness it, but it reminds me of driving around Accra with Kingsley. Shelley told him the story of when she first got to Ghana and saw all the goats wandering around freely. She told him that at first she thought they were dogs. Ghanaian dogs. Kingsley laughed SO hard!!! Then Shelley asked him how he avoided hitting all the goats in the streets with his car, because they just kind of wander. He laughed again "Oh, Sister Shelley, you can't hit a goat!!!! Goats are smart, sheep are stupid". So, for those of you traveling soon, make sure you tell Kingsley that when you go. He'll know you were talking to Shelley and Becky, and, it will make him laugh.

I think this is the answer to our bike-riding dog problem. Every time we go for a ride and Eden comes along, her paws get all torn up. They bleed and are sore for days. Strapping her to Robert's back is genius! But maybe Robert won't think so!