Chismville

The double nap has happened yet again! I’m enjoying the luxury of sitting in front of my computer. Armed with healthy and unhealthy snacks and library books, I successfully took both kids to my OB appointment this afternoon. Joel was traumatized by my blood-work, but very enamored with my Band-Aid and then with my stomach after hearing Baby’s heartbeat. Joel is growing up. We began potty-training in earnest last week and he is catching on well. I’ve settled into a less hawk-like mode of enforcing subsequent practice of going to the potty. I must admit to an extreme feeling of burn-out several days into the new adventure. I’m happy to say I’m once again enjoying life!

We enjoyed a delightful weekend with my cousin, Katie and Joel Poortenga and their two adorable little ones, Talia and Micah. We met at the San Diego Zoo and enjoyed a good tour of the animals for the better part of the day. Katie and Joel are such amazing adaptable parents. We successfully got all four kids tucked in bed and enjoyed a Dicken’s movie and good conversation until much later than we usually stay up. We utterly forgot about the time change until nearly too late. Our realtor called, wanting to show our house Sunday morning and I had nursery duty. Somehow we all managed to make it to church just a little late with a clean house and mostly contended stomachs. After church, we enjoyed a picnic at the park and more good conversation before Joel & Katie drove back to Redlands, California. It’s a blessing to have these loved ones closer to us!

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

cut in: 1/3 cup butter

swirl together:

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup honey

1 egg

Stir honey mixture into the flour mixture and  roll out to 1/8 inch thickness with a little extra wheat flour. Cut in animal shapes and bake at 350 for 11 or 12 minutes.

Joel and Chalice used to inhale graham crackers. I haven’t bought them in a while. My dear friend, Dana, gave us some animal cookie cutters for Christmas that I’ve been wanting to use. Today I promised Joel that we could make some graham crackers after our walk and after his nap. Joel loves helping me bake. A 5 gallon wheat bucket makes a great little stool for him. He poured in most of the dry ingredients and then went to town cutting out camels, elephants, pigs, giraffes, donkeys, and kangaroos. I dusted them with a little cinnamon before baking them. Yum yum!

Chalice is Joel’s devoted little disciple…some of the time. Henry’s health food store kindly bestowed balloons upon my children this morning when I was grocery shopping and Joel saw to it that his sister kept her purple balloon and didn’t “drop” it. He alternately asked me to tie and untie his yellow balloon to his sandal. The balloons safe inside our house late this afternoon, I was fixing dinner around the 5 o’clock hour with happy music blasting to dissuade the kids from remembering their hungry little stomachs and their duty to fuss the hour away before their daddy arrived home. They glued themselves to my ankles while I chopped and prepared the components of chicken pot pie. It was then that Joel let go of his yellow balloon and much to his dismay it floated swiftly to the top of our new skylight. I tried unsuccessfully to retrieve it for him and told him that when daddy arrived home, he would get the balloon for him. Joel fixated on that point of Daddy getting his balloon for him. When the kids temporarily left me to dinner preparations, I hardly noticed. A few moments later, I left the kitchen to check on the kids and noticed both doors were wide open. Joel knew how to spring the child safety door handle from the screen door with the larger door. He also knew how to unbolt all three of the locks and had obviously done so quite effectively. Joel and Chalice were nowhere to be seen. I rushed down the sidewalk to the left. A few neighbors asked if I was looking for someone. Two lone toddlers would certainly have drawn some attention I would have thought. Another neighbor from her balcony informed me that they had gone around the corner. As I rushed the opposite direction she explained that they’d said something about finding daddy. Great, I thought. So she took a baby’s word for it! They were nowhere to be seen around the corner either. They’d both passed four neighboring doors walked down several stairs to where David’s truck would have been parked had he been home. As I rounded the corner of our garage I saw the two miniature people. Chalice’s purple balloon was tied to her pink corduroy overall dress. She held the two halves of the child safety doorknob thing. Joel was by her side as they ventured onward. They were nearly outside of our complex and in rush-hour traffic on the street. In fact, another 20 seconds in the direction they were headed and hopefully God’s mercy would have spared them from the rush of cars heading home. Is mothering worth the near heart-attacks it so frequently affords? Is there insurance to cover the fees for the number of guardian angels my little ones could use?

Tuesday afternoon I completed the final exam for my bomdiggity course on terrorism. Two & a half hours of free-hand writing. I feel like Christian watching his burden fall off at the foot of the cross. Most of the courses I’ve taken since we’ve been married have been fulfilling and interesting. While I definitely learned a lot in this course, there were so many technical frustrations and correspondence problems with the professor. I wish I could get more than three credits for all the work I put into this particular course with its books of reading, eight 6-page papers, and two comprehensive exams–all free-hand writing. I’m now just about done with my degree. I have just two more courses left. I’m thankful for my patient husband who’s put up with the extra stress of my studies.

I have such a loving husband who thoroughly spoils me–but hopefully I’m not spoiled rotten.  Tonight we will be our third Valentine’s dinner date at a cute little Italian restaurant in El Cajon. Two years ago today, I made David a card letting him know that we were expecting little Baby number two–Chalice. I carefully built up to the news in my note, but David read the bottom line first, changing the climactic conclusion.

Today is a quiet and rainy day. Joel is with his Grammy Chism, so I plan to take Chalice out for a little outing after running errands. I’m enjoying a breather between courses and thought I’d do something besides studying for a nice change of pace.

1/2 banana

1 carrot

1 tray ice cubes

3 frozen strawberries

2 tangerines

1/4 cup whole yogurt

1/3 cup tofu

1 t. vanilla

Whir in vitamix or other very buff blender and share with your happy toddlers!

Yesterday was a draggy sort of day. I tried to persuade Joel of the delightfulness of a morning nap, but he wasn’t buying. At last both kids were down for afternoon naps and I worked on a reading assignment for my last Political Science class. When my brain quit making sense of the text, I decided the coveted nap would be just the thing. It was 3:30 and I wouldn’t have to worry about dinner for another hour or so. Just as I drifted to the lovely land of dreams, I was jolted awake by the doorbell. I thought it was probably a delivery and didn’t bother to get up. I cringed at the thought of the kids waking up!! Then I heard the door opening and was excited it was David home early, until I heard a woman’s voice. I jumped from bed and raced down the hall, looking nice and frazzled for our dear friend–the realtor–who was dropping off flyers. Yes, I guess she called, but with the glorious “do not disturb” feature on our phone I had no idea she was coming by. I’ll still haven’t adjusted to the concept of someone unlocking our door and letting themselves in at any time. How eager I am to be finished with this whole house on the market thing! 

This morning David and I were in the living rooms having our morning devotions and heard a little voice. Joel practically has his own intercom system. He puts his head down by the door and comments on the most recent events of the day.  The door amplifies his little voice. “Daddy talking to Mommy!” he reported to the world.  Chalice doesn’t say a whole lot yet. She’s still in the “Uh-Oh” stage and copies Joel’s “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” whenever I ask a question.

I thought you had to have New Year’s resolutions in writing in order for them to happen. My neatly stacked and organized closet can attest it’s not true. For months I’ve been dreading the project of going through clothes and stuff and making happy workable space for all my closet’s inhabitants and this past Saturday it happened with only the slightest amount of pain! Meanwhile, my amazing husband cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast, swept the floor and patio, took out the trash, and got the car cleaned!!

The best part of the day was made better by our productivity. After naps, we loaded the kids in their carseats in our clean car and trekked over for a hike on the glorious trails/beach of Torrey Pines/Del Mar. The kids were happy as could be listening to our pleasant conversation from the keen vantage point of their backpacks and we got the added exercise benefits of their respective 28 and 20 pounds. The air was perfect. We started off in a residential area through which we accessed the cliff trails overlooking the beach. The waves crested and their spray glittered in the sunlight until they descended, crashing on the golden sand. We crossed railroad tracks and enjoyed the uncrowded beach, eventually bringing us to Del Mar and a little community which ended our circuit at our car. Joel and Chalice took short naps while we cleaned up and topped off the day with a delicious meal at Emily and Andy’s house.

Sunday was similarly delightful. After church, we dropped off the kids at a friends house, whose kind daughter had volunteered to watch them as a community service project. We cheered the Charger’s victory, ate pizza and calzones for lunch, and took a peaceful stroll through Kensington, starbucks cups in hand. Tired by our pleasant excursions, we tucked the kids in bed after a small dinner and ended the day with Stewart Little and sweet dreams.

It’s time I poked my head out of the water and said “hello” to all my friends who keep in contact through cyber-reality. We did have a smashingly wonderful Christmas and married off another sister! Kendra’s wedding was beautiful and meaningful at Morningside Inn, just five miles from my family’s house in Libertytown, Maryland. Joel was in his element with attention from his fun young uncles and many doting aunties. He enjoyed reading with my mom and getting teased and tickled by my dad. It was also good puppy-friendliness-training for my clingy little girly. David and I marvel how much she likes to eat and still she stays little! I have no idea how many people fed her breakfast or lunch on any given day.

Our little family is a bit sneezy now back in San Diego.  I’m eager to banish the coughs and colds of winter with a more healthy family. I’m also thoroughly enjoying food now that I’m not repulsed by everything edible anymore. A very kind friend gave me my very own copy of Deceptively Delicious. (For those of you who don’t watch Opera, it’s a kid-friendly cookbook designed by a now very wealthy mom with all sorts of yummy recipes disguising pureed veggies and fruits so that picky people won’t notice all the vitamins.) This book has given me an arsenal of clever ideas. For example, I plan to use some of my leftover butternut bisque in some muffins. I’m plotting some dessert with chocolate into which I can incorporate some extra black turtle beans. I grew up healthy–but I firmly believe the healthiest foods should taste the most delicious too–just ask Rattouille. For a brief season last year, David tried going wheat-free and got hooked on the following menu for his daily packed lunches–homemade hummus (nice and zippy), baked corn chips for dipping, a big crunchy apple, and 1/4 cup almonds. Joel’s and Chalice’s favorite “dessert” are those little clementines that Costco’s sells as “Cuties” and that peal so easily. On most days when I’m not feeling ambitious, I fix the kids oatmeal with a little full-fat yogurt for breakfast.  I’m still garnering lunch ideas beyond dinner left-overs. Smoothies are always a hit and I keep homemade wh. wheat bread on hand. I love tomatoes! All right, this is deteriorating swiftly. The good part of my brain is getting stolen by my current Political Science coursework topic of terrorism. How I long to be finished writing papers about such sad subjects. Soon!! Happy 2008 to all!

It’s snowing in Libertytown, Maryland. My sister and I had a phone date this morning. After my morning devotions, while I fixed oatmeal pancakes for my little bunnies, I got to talk to Jenny. Her study today was canceled because it is snowing. Oh how my heart ached to look out the window and see that magical sight of snow fluttering down and dusting everything, then coating everything in a glittery white blanket. Jenny told me about the episode on Christian radio from Family Life Today on the stories behind various Christmas carols. The story behind Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer moved me to tears twice–first when Jenny told it to me and then hearing it again over the internet! Who would have thought there could be such meaning in Rudolph! After talking to Jen, I got to download the episode from the internet and was thinking about how David and I got married in August and used Handel’s Messiah for our Processional and Recessional. That is so appropriate considering how we love Christmas and love listening to and playing Christmas music all around the year. Handel was a very famous musician, however, it was late in his life when his popularity had waned and he feared debtor’s prison that he wrote the Messiah as a response to a moratorium request by a simple person. God inspired Handel with the Messiah and the king loved it. Handel was able to live out his years as a free man without debts after writing the Messiah!

Jenny and I both expressed our very strange desire to be able to set foot outside in our pajamas without having to worry about people seeing us. A couple days ago, I went to a mom’s Christmas brunch with my sister-in-law, Emily. We were asked to tell our most memorable Christmas gift. My mind clicked back to the Christmas Eve I was nine years old. My mom and Grandpa Hake walked across the front lawn with a white pony named Cashew. Living on a 126 acre horse and Christmas tree farm, I certainly didn’t think that this pony had much of anything to do with me. I couldn’t believe my ears when I discovered that this pony was to be ours! She was mine to care for and “play with” and ride. There were so many other memories associated with that snapshot. We performed plays on the chicken house roof. We went toboggoning down the hills in the fields behind our white farmhouse. We spent days loading wood onto a pickup and then stacking it neatly beside our house. Then we enjoyed hot wassail with orange slices floating in it with cloves poked into them, that had been simmering all day on our woodstove. One New Years we tried to crack a pinata that wouldn’t budge. We had made the pinata from a balloon and newspaper strips and wheat paste over several weeks and filled it with candy. At last we tore into it and the candy burst out! We went canoing on our pond and one time just as we were about to board the canoe, we discovered a snake sunning himself in our boat. One year when our cousins were visiting from Taiwan, we played a modified version of capture the flag in the snow. Each team built little snow fortresses and mounded piles of snowballs behind our walls.

Oh how I hope there’s snow when we go back east for Christmas! Joel is quite smitten with the love of snowmen lately. He’s always asking us to draw pictures of snowmen and model play dough into snowmen with carrot noses and scarves. I so want to enjoy the snow with our kids. Last year I was talking to a sweet friend who grew up in a small castle in Germany. We were reminiscing about our childhoods together. Her husband is now stationed in San Diego. She could so completely understand my longings in lieu of such beautiful childhood memories. It is so hard to think of raising your children in the city when you grew up with safe rolling green hills to run through and creeks to get dirty in and a lamb that followed you everywhere and horses to ride and fields of Christmas trees and the simple pleasures of rural living. Hopefully our little family can fly back this New Year with an airplane full of two weeks of happy memories that will last all year long!

I have enjoyed the purposeful feeling of studying, but lately the deadlines have been a real drag! This week I had three paper assignments. I think I was in denial about it or about having kids, or the mixture of those concepts. Joel has quit taking a morning nap and recently gone on strike for taking any naps at all. At two years old he thinks he knows what is best for himself! Trying to get my studies in around the edges has been a stressful sort of joke! I’ve felt like Esau, only instead of my birthright for soup, I’d sell my responsibilities for a NAP! I wish I could earn a few bucks every time some person says,”Finishing your degree and taking care of two toddlers with morning sickness–I don’t know how you do it!” Lately, I’ve been telling them, “I don’t!” I’ve felt like I’ve been getting by on mediocre in so many categories of life! Anyway, I just finalized the edits and submitted all three of my assignments that are due this week. It is a wonderful feeling. I got to dig out many of my old paralegal materials for a research paper on Marbury v. Madison. I’m the leader for a discussion forum this upcoming week, so I got to use one of my personal hero and friend, Linda Chavez’s recent articles. I hope they don’t mark me down for using such a “conservative” article. I am so eager to finish up my education so that I can spend more time playing with my children and taking them on outings, being more cheerful for my husband, keeping in touch with my friends, and keeping the nooks and crannies of my house clean!!!

Last weekend, I called my dear friend, Mrs. Wold, to ask her for advice with a very busy boy and she exhorted me to not fear asking for help. Why do I feel I’m admitting to defeat when I ask for help with my kids? It is difficult to write a paper with Joel dumping taco seasoning all over the floor and with Chalice chewing on my hair spray.

I have been thoroughly enjoying listening to Christmas music and seeing the Christmas decorations everywhere. Joel and Chalice loved helping me decorate for Christmas, while I dashed around praying they wouldn’t break anything! David enjoyed making fun of me when I cried listening to (David’s FAVORITE musical artist) Josh Groban singing I’ll be Home for Christmas. He threatened to write a blog about how Josh Groban made his wife cry. Well, it really wasn’t Josh’s sonorous voice so much as the voices of the military servants in the line of duty leaving messages for their loved ones from far-away lands. Maybe I was thinking how incredibly blessed and happy I am that I will be home for Christmas, not just in my dreams.

The past two days of rain have been delightful. I keep thinking….if it were only 80 degrees colder, it would be snow!