DIY kids

The two girls got in a little argument today.  Some one's blue painted angel got thrown across the room and lost a wing.  I was nursing the baby when it happened but the conflict was resolved without any adult intervention........all that was left was a sticky little mess.  Kind of cute and so worth the clean up.

Hurting and Healing Words

Upon pulling out of our driveway in Michigan and only a few feet on our way out to Utah I slipped in an old conference CD, this was to set a calm and pleasant tone for the rest of the journey.

The first talk we listened to was Elder Holland's, The Tongue of Angels.  That was a great one to start with and I believe because of it I graciously resisted the urge to back seat drive.  Over the miles our conversation and comments became sort of a game, kind of like Pollyanna's glad game with points both positive and negative depending upon the words that escaped our mouths.   This made all the difference in traveling in a van full of young children.  This made all the difference when just an hour later we discovered the CD player was jammed and all that was left to entertain us (besides our "glad game") was the radio which didn't always get reception through the long mountain passes.

I thought a lot about that talk today.  You see I took Henry back to the allergist for a follow up, I took him in hopes of encouragement and understanding, all to help facilitate his healing.  The Dr. was straight forward in discussing the situation and knowing I had several children tried to offer suggestions on how to fit Henry into our regular eating routines.  We also discussed whether it was a good idea to get the other children tested as well.  I was still probing for answers as he made his way to the door.  His eyes danced around the four little children crammed in the corner of the room with me, Maryanna balancing on one foot on a chair, Clara curled up under the chair playing with her stuffed dog, Henry scribbling on a Magna doodle on one half my lap and George on the other half chewing on his thumb making all sorts of cooing sounds.  At the moment I did have my hands full, perhaps I looked a little frustrated about the allergies but instead of encouragement and before he said "have a great day, we'll check him next year" he left me with ..........."look lady, you did this to yourself".  Did he really just say that!  Why would he say that?  That really hurt - I was already feeling a bit of guilt about Henry's allergies.

I don't share this story out of rage and I'm not seeking any pity, I only share it as a learning experience.

I remained calm as I corralled the kids towards the exit.  Checking out I gently questioned why I was being charged a $50 co-pay when there was no exam but just a short discussion of lab results.  In my heart I told myself never to return to that office again and to be honest I really wanted to cry but decided to hold it until the parking lot.

Before I bustled my way out of the waiting room a very large women got up in front of me and declared "let me get the door for you".   That was kind.  That made me feel a bit better.  I suppose you could say that healed me a bit.  On my way still, I pushed the stroller and pulled my train of toddlers through the parking lot only to be stopped by another very kind woman.  She took a good look over all the sweet little faces in my company and slapping her hand on her cheek let out "look at these four beautiful children.....you are so lucky, you are so blessed".  Usually when someone says this I squeak out a shy "thank you" but this woman just healed my hurt, she deserved more.  I looked her in the eyes and said, "thank you so much for saying that", if only she knew what had been reversed by her simple kind words.

The poor doctor, with all his years of training to heal did just the opposite.  I thought about the way my Dad practiced medicine and wished that all doctors could be as kind and wise to their patients as he was.

These two women who I practically bumped into, perhaps they were in the medical offices seeking healing for themselves, little did they know they of their own capacity to heal.  I suppose many of us are unaware of the power our words can have for good or bad.

Elder Holland suggested, "Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today. With such words, spoken under the influence of the Spirit, tears can be dried, hearts can be healed, lives can be elevated, hope can return, confidence can prevail".  What more does the world need than these?  I am determined to do my part.

          

Celebrating the big 5

Maryanna has been counting the days till her birthday for several months.  In fact, since February she's been throwing around verbal invitations to a big celebration to everyone - including check out clerks, Primary teachers, zoo workers,  librarians, and pretty much any child she comes into contact whether at a store or playground.  On the other hand, my invitation, and I believe a few of the boys' as well, were revoked on more than one occasion but in the end we were always once again "invited to her birthday party".

But as the weeks went by I gently explained how as a family we decided that birthday parties would be thrown every other year and this was actually the "other year".  She confidently declared to my face, "well, I plan it myself!  And I'm not going to copy anyone by having a swim or beach party in the summer, I'm going to have an ice skating party with lots of pink balloons and one blue balloon for Poppy and I know Oma's going to come and help me blow up the balloons".  It is hard to react to that kind of determination so I just assured her that indeed she was going to have a very special day.

We were hit pretty hard with a Summer flu the week before her birthday, it was only days around the corner and she seemed to be reminding me of it's approach on the hour.  This was also within days of Henry's appointment with the allergist and learning our house would now need to be rid of the typical delicious birthday treats.  But what I learned was it doesn't take much to throw a party when there's a handful of energetic kids on your side, even without a pinata, piles of presents, bags of candy, a bouncy house or all the neighborhood kids we had a great time.  Here's what we did:

First Clara and I hit the Ann Arbor PTO thrift store where they have shelves of unused and still packaged party supplies neatly organized.  We picked up streamers, balloons, party hats, napkins, fancy plastic cups, and craft supplies all for under $10.  We also grabbed a U of M cheerleader dress with pom poms, a sparkly fairy book, and small wicker sewing box for an additional $5 - these were wrapped alongside the a new pink porcelain tea set and red cowboy boots I found on ebay.

The night before the boys stayed up late making presents for her.  William made colored coffee filter  clothes pin butterflies and Peter took an old toilet paper roll, glued beads on it for a vase then filled it with colorful tissue paper flowers.  We used more tissue paper and a thrifted silk flower to maker her birthday hat special enough to match her personality.  James was careful and spent several hours whittling down a nice stick that with ribbon and felt I helped turn into a fairy wand.  Paul and I hung the birthday banner, streamers and balloons when all the kids were sleeping (I love that he can easily touch the ceiling).

Breakfast was soaked oatmeal pancakes with whipped cream and fresh picked raspberries and she blew out the candles on the old German birthday train.  We walked to the playground.

The boys were very kind in their tea party participation.

The girls played dress-up and to make it extra special I carefully let her try on my wedding dress.

Then we went to Nanny and Poppy's where she shared cake and ice cream with a few cousins.

On our way home Maryanna declared:  "This was the best birthday ever"!  So it really doesn't take much time, money or planning to make a child feel special and feeling special is what birthdays are all about.

Here is what Paul contributed to the digital photo book I created for her 2nd birthday.  I wanted to share it here because the book is wearing out and I don't want to lose these beautiful words.  It is actually helpful for me to re-read it on the days when my patience runs thin and positive reminder on how blessed I am to be her mother.

August 2007 -Happy Birthday MooMoo! 

Our first baby girl is not such a baby anymore!  Maryanna, you have learned so much in just the last year- how to walk, how to talk, and how to make us all laugh with your sprightly shenanigans and adorable antics.  Your inexhaustible enthusiasm has become infectious - there is never a dull moment in our lives with you around!  How we wish we could bottle up your spark and use it ourselves on those days when we feel a bit sluggish.  We wonder about you.  What will you do in this life?  Who will you become?  How will you use that boundless effervescence and contagious smile to bless the live of others?  We cannot wait to find out, to unlock the mystery along with you, and share so many more wondrous experiences together.  Our little MooMoo- you may outgrow your nickname, but may you never lose that zest.  Instead may you relish it, and develop it to bless mankind.  We love you so very much- you are a gift to us, directly from our Father in Heaven.  Happy Birthday!

  

Paul likes this

Here's something new I've tried that the whole family (including Paul and William) likes.

It is a quinoa salad that I replicated from the Whole Foods salad bar.  I'm always requesting samples of their prepared foods and if it's good I'll purchase a small container then probe the chef behind the counter for all the secrets.  I pick up the needed ingredients and experiment until it tastes like the one I purchased.

I don't know the name of it but here's what's in it:

Cooked quinoa -  I use to use a pressure cooker to prepare this but have since abandoned that practice.  Pressure cookers are quick and convenient but destroy so many of the vital nutrients and does not aid in the digestion of the grain.  I believe in and practice soaking grains and cooking them slowly over a medium-low temperature.  To make it especially flavorful (and nourishing) I chop up some fresh garlic and an onion, saute them a bit in olive oil then add the quinoa (about 1:2 ratio to water) and instead of water will use a rich homemade broth.  Add a bit of sea salt and let it cool before adding the following ingredients.

Black beans - again I use to use the pressure cooker for these but now am soaking them for at least 12 hours then cooking slowly on a low temp.  When cooking the beans I always add scraps from garlic, onions, and herbs (especially cilantro).  Don't salt your beans until they are done cooking.  And here is the secret I got out of the Whole Foods chef - for this salad you need to soak the cooked beans in red wine vinegar so they will provide little bursts of flavor.

Mix this with the following:

fresh parsley
fresh basil
olive oil
fresh garlic
red onion
corn
red or yellow pepper
cherry tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes
salt, pepper
and a few more splashes of red wine vinegar

I have also added crumbled goat cheese and leftover cooked zucchini and squash.  It doesn't look like much but when done right it is a sure crowd pleaser - it is actually one of Paul's favorite lunches.  

"It's so Bizarre"!

With all the new limitations on Henry's diet we've been experimenting with foods he can have and it's been fun.  The kids loved watching Andrew Zimmern every evening at Oma and Opa's house so eating new foods has become an adventure in which they can show off their bravery.  And it is always followed by a pile of adjectives, sometimes made up but always entertaining.

Here's Peter with a chicken foot

I have been studying the Nourishing Traditions cookbook for several months now but it is only very recently that I've had the "guts" to experiment outside my comfort zone.  The chicken feet were my first experiment.  I wasn't going to actually feed them to the kids, they were only purchased for a rich broth.  But when the kids saw me straining them they all begged for a nibble.  Why not?  my Dad grew up eating chicken feet and I even ate a few in China.  They had them right along side their breakfast of soaked millet porridge.  Henry couldn't get enough and begged for "more chicken feet" each time I opened the fridge.  I did not participate in the nibbling but the broth was amazing.  I was about to take a bite until Clara, age 3 in her cute little voice squeaked out, "they look like cute little hands".

Maryanna dug right in without blinking

So the rest of the chicken was to be roasted but after the preparing the feet I didn't think the liver, heart, stomach and neck would be so bad.  I consulted with my Dad then simply boiled them, salted them and presented them on a plate for my brave lunch time eaters.  There was barely enough to go around and the heart and stomach were the favorite.  The liver got very poor reviews when Henry who was the first to try it spit it right out and declared "yucky dog poop".

You may notice William is unrepresented here.  He squirms and leaves the table before we are through but at least foods like broccoli and avocados don't seem as scary to him anymore.  He can show off his bravery just by eating veggies.

Next experiment:  a whole fish.  This is a Lane Snapper. I forgot to get a before picture but here is the after.... you may notice the eyes are missing.

I told them in China the eyes were the special prize so they went for them

The bones and head have already been simmered into a yummy stock.

Now you may also wonder how Paul plays a part in this..... he's not been feeling well so I've been saving lots of broth for him.  I did however see several Jimmy Johns wrappers in his car today.  Still waiting for him to catch the vision of "traditional foods".

Family Photo Flip Books

Peter helped me make these photo flip books at Kinkos late into the evening the night before we left on our Utah trip.  They were to be my secret weapon to keep the younger ones happy since we don't have a DVD player to fall back on, and although music and talking books work our CD player only works when it is jabbed just right with a steak knife. We made five books.

I pulled them out on multiple occasions and found they even entertained the older kids.  They discovered they could play "I Spy" with them.  For example.....I spy lots of dirty dishes in the sink, I spy a band aid on someone's arm or I spy a lego piece under the couch.  It bought us some quiet miles.

The only problem I had was Henry figured out how to open the ring that held the book together so that became more fun than actually looking at the photos.......at least he was entertained and the mess was easy enough to pick up.

Other ideas that helped entertain the kids on this past adventure in the car:  Tuskies, the large elephant puppet or Brentwood the stuffed bear (Paul was a lot better at bringing these characters to life and was able to do it one handed over his shoulder from the front - it even got me laughing), sturdy Waldorf sketch pads, finding shapes in the clouds (yes we got desperate at times), a Hymn book and Children's Song book, and guess the year of the coin I just pulled out of the spare change pile.

We've been on enough road trips to learn that it doesn't take bags of treats, piles of movies or fancy toys to entertain kids, in fact in most cases those have all backfired on us.  Instead it is just the joy of being together that gets us through the long journeys and in some cases it is actually the journey itself that makes the trip most memorable.  So when the sun is in our eyes and more than half the van is screaming with impatience Paul and I just look at each other and chuckle out the following assurances: "we're suppose to be having fun, right"? and "this is what vacation is suppose to feel like" because laughter is what helps more than anything when you are on a long road trip with children as I suppose it is with raising a family in general.

Henry's Happy Meal

So the major challenge and stress of our trip was what to feed Henry.  The thought of driving 30 hours in the van without any treat bribes made me nervous but we pulled it off.

Basically Henry started reacting to any kind of grain,  dairy and fruit.  If you can see past the smear of residual chocolate meringue, the one sweet treat we found that works, you may see the eczema on his cheeks and arms that resulted from this challenge.  The most severe of his reactions included swollen face and vomiting but thankfully we did not experience any of that on the trek back.  

The good news is we are all eating a lot healthier because of it.  Instead of the typical road trip chips, candy and cookies we passed around baggies of fresh veggies.  Stopping for fast food was not even an option so before passing through Park City we made a stop at Whole Foods.  It was at their salad bar where I prepared a few "happy meals" for Henry.

It was so cute to see the smile these meals brought to his face but what made me really chuckle was him saying "ummm yummy cookie" every time I handed him a slice of raw zucchini.

The truth is every time he screams out in discomfort I could cry also.  For that reason I am on a mission to heal with appointments already scheduled with specialists and books on their way I am willing to do what it takes to help this little guy...... even preparing soups with, um, chicken feet or fish heads!  Because I call any food that heals or nourishes a happy meal.  

Camping with Daddy by Peter

We went camping with Daddy in the mountains.  The altitude was almost 2 miles up in the air from sea level.  It was about 9,752 feet up.  The altitude was so high the chip bag puffed up but if we went higher it might have popped.

 It was just the boys and Daddy so we slept in the tiny tent.   We roasted marshmallows with chocolate and it was so cold we got to drink hot chocolate.  I slept good because it was pretty warm in my sleeping bag.

We saw bright constellations.  I'm not an expert of constellations but William and James are so they showed me what Scorpion looks like.  We couldn't see Orion because it is summer. We saw some moose eating about 20 feet from our campsite.  I took a video of them and I hoped they wouldn't run away. I think these signs are for skiing.  It was not snowy enough to ski but we did see snow and touch snow.

We went on a hike up to Secret Lake.  There were streams so we had to walk on rocks to cross but Daddy just walked straight through the streams probably because he was too big for the rocks and they might have toppled over.  When we were nearly to the top there were big giant rocks so we climbed them and I said it was like Mt. Everest.  When we got to the lake I was surprised how tiny it was but I wanted to jump in anyways.  I didn't because the sign said "No Swimming".  If it was frozen I could have run across it in 5 minutes.  We saw a rusty anchor in the lake and I wanted to go and get it out.  James found a part of the rock that was like a chair and a tiny rock that looked like Utah but he put it back because he said it would be like destroying nature to keep it.

We all relaxed by the lake separately.  I can't remember what I was thinking about then but I did feel peaceful.  It looks like a green lake but it is just the reflection of all the green moss and trees and shrubs.  Oma let me borrow a flash light so I brought it on the hike just in case it would get all dark.  It only got dark at night but it felt comfortable to carry the flashlight anyways.  

I'm kind of getting sick of blogging so I want to draw a picture instead.  Anyways I hope I remember how much fun it was.

Wardrobe building at DI

Cathy arranged for a babysitter and took me to her favorite DI.  At first I questioned whether we should instead take advantage of the Nordstrom Anniversary sale but Cathy reassured me that we would not leave empty handed - she was right!

I admit the prices were much higher than I would normally pay but the store was clean, quality of the items good and I believe in the mission of Deseret Industries.  I was also a little desperate for some smaller fitting clothes because some where along the road and bustle of activities the excess baby weight thankfully and luckily starting slipping off.

 The best part of this outing was the non-stop laughter bouncing between us sisters and the fitting rooms. Cathy wouldn't mind me sharing how comfortable she feels at that DI - at one point she forgot to close the fitting room door!  My mouth was still numb from a dental visit just before and this episode with Cathy made me laugh until I could not control the drool - this made us laugh even harder!  Cathy got a good flip video of me in this laughing drooling state but promised not to share it on facebook.

In addition to a great laugh here's what I brought home:

vintage leather t-strap heels, made in Spain (and pictured in my previous post) - $6
vintage leather knee high cow girl boots (wore them to the days of '47 rodeo) - $6
2 pairs of jeans - $5 each
3 pairs of chinos in various colors - $5 each
printed corduroy bias cut skirt - $3
black skirt (to replace the one that got ruined after hitting a bump and dropping an oreo shake into my lap) - $5

Also found but not pictured:
3 pairs of brand new gap jeans for Maryanna - $5 each
1 pair of brand new gap jeans for James - $6
Books - too many to admit to but for .50 it was worth squeezing a couple boxes into the van

What I wish I would have bought:
a victorian doll house half finished:  $15
a bike rack that someone else grabbed while I was stewing over the beautiful doll hosue

Sunday Morning Date

After several weeks of field tripping, camping and entertaining the kids, it was nice to spend a quiet morning just with Paul.  Church didn't start until 11 am so with my mom in charge we were able to slip out at 8:00 am to stroll around temple square and attend Music and the Spoken Word.

Music and the Spoken Word has always been a Sunday tradition in our home, we record it listen and watch, but this was the first time I ever attended a live performance.  It was a great contrast to my typical Sunday mornings of bathing, wrestling, and dressing small children in addition to preparing a lesson.  I got a vision and sense of what Sunday mornings are suppose to feel like and will now work harder to pull that feeling into my home.

Paul always gets a bit misty eyed from the performances, even at home in front of the TV so this outing together was a special treat for him.  I just regret not ever attending one while we lived there but encourage anyone who has the chance not to pass it up, it is free, open to people of all faiths and I promise you will leave with your soul invigorated.