Sorry!

Have you seen the pinterest.com quote, "Cleaning your house with children around is like trying to brush your teeth while eating Oreos."

My sister and I were just talking about how true that is.

Yet today, for some crazy reason, I couldn't take the disaster upstairs any longer.

I was starting to feel like a hoarder- 5 tubs full of camping bedding, towels and dishes for the trailer until we get it secured from the mice invasion.  Plus two tubs and a garbage bag of fantastic hand-me-downs for Miss Elsa, dirty clothes, stuffed animals, you name it- it's laying on the floor upstairs...

I had to, "STOP THE INSANITY!!!"

Can you hear Susan Powell?  Remember the blond buzz cut lady who was always yelling, "Stop the insanity!"?

I'm frantically racing from scrubbing my shower to switching laundry, to purging dressers to putting away laundry.

I know the kids are unattended downstairs.

At one point, Charlie's crying because Carl kneed him in the eye while wrestling- we'll see if it turns into a black eye.

Then, while I was vacuuming Elsa chased the boys with the board off the computer lap desk.

Somehow Charlie pushed it and it whacked her in the mouth.

She cried because there's blood.

He popped himself in timeout and kept saying, "I'm sorry."

Once the waters settled, Charlie was still in his self-inflicted time-out, and sneaked a kiss on a piece of paper.

Carl laughed and said, "I saw that Charlie!"

Charlie replied, "It's just a picture of Elsa."

Sweet boy.

His guilt was so bad  he tried making amends by kissing this well worn photo of his baby sister.

Now you know why my version of cleaning is wiping surfaces with a bleach wipe after bedtime and running the vacuum whenever I can find a quiet few minutes to squeeze it in (of course that has to fall in line with a moderately picked up house).

I don't have the stamina for much more than that.

So, to quote another pinterest.com quote, "Pardon the mess, my children are making memories."

Ha!  Memories of injuring each other and eating goldfish for lunch.

No one's perfect.

Right?

Breakfast!

I don't miss the chicken poop on my porches.

Or giving them water (touching their nasty watering container with poop everywhere).

Or Elsa taste testing their poop.

Remember that?

GROSS!!

But I think it would be wise if we hurried up and got some more chickens.

This morning we consumed seventeen eggs.

Mark had 3 (I had 2) fried over soy chorizo, cheese, avocado and hot sauce- perfect hangover cure.

Elsa had 3 fried with cheese and medium hot sauce.

Charlie had 1 fried.

Carl had EIGHT egg whites with medium hot sauce.

Sarina has yet to place her order.

And I wonder where all our money goes.

Right into their little bellies.

*Update: Sarina also consumed 4 egg whites bringing the grand total up to 21 eggs consumed by this family in a single meal.  Sheesh!

Over Heard at a Party

I was hovering near the kids at a party last night- making sure they consumed a decent amount of food before running off to swim and play again.

One of the kids (a boy Carl's age) was sitting next to Carl and Sarina (Charlie was across the table- Elsa was at another table with her little boyfriends).

He said, in a fantastically deep little boy voice, "Sammy told me he has a crush on Elsa."  (Sammy is an adorable boy who was in Charlie's pre-school class).

photo by Monica Snider

Carl kind of hit him on the arm and said, "Dude, that's my sister." 

At least I'm pretty sure there was a "Dude" in there.

The boy said again, "Yeah, Sammy said he has a crush on Elsa."

Again, Carl hit him on the arm and said, "That's my sister!"

photo by Monica Snider

Then it registered with little Mr. Deep-Voice- I don't think he had realized the connection.

He looked at Sarina and said, "Is she your sister too?"

Sarina nodded.

He sat there calculating for a second.

"Four kids?!"

Sarina and Carl nodded.

I think those kind of numbers were beyond his comprehension.

And how I love that Carl was stunned by someone talking about his sister.

Oh the years to come...

Miss Elsa will be surrounded by boys- Carl 3 grades ahead, Charlie just one grade ahead, and a cousin Conner the same grade.   That means Carl will be a senior and Charlie a Sophomore when Elsa and Conner will be freshman.

Not that she'll need it.  I have a feeling that kid is going to hold her own.



And of course, Miss Sophie will be a junior.

We'll have Capital pretty well stacked.

I'll have to figure out how to get in those halls to see how those dynamics play out...

Life Changing Events

Have you ever thought about how much your life can change by a single incident?

I know my life has been filled with little things that have altered the course of my life.

The day a girl told me I wasn't any fun unless I was drinking (I was 15 and had been "friends" with her since kindergarten), boy did that set me back on the straight and narrow.

The night Mark lifted me into the stands at a football game, senior year of high school, I knew I'd marry him.

The single week I was off birth control... and hello Miss Sarina.

When I was younger, "that's life" is something I remember being said for lots of little life lessons- then I'd roll my eyes.

I know a family who has had such a profound life-changing experience, I cannot imagine, nor can I fathom how far reaching their experience will be for others.

I do know that I cannot stop thinking about them.

And what I feel is that they made a very heroic choice.

They're a family much like mine.  He is a firefighter, she works when she can, they had three babies in close succession, then found out they were going to have another.

I'll admit I thought whoa Nelly, they're in for a whole new level of work.

The year Elsa was born was a tricky year for me.  I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I attribute a few grey hairs and darker shades of dark under my eyes to that year (ok and subsequent years too...)

This family has had a whole new ride.

They learned their beautiful baby girl had Trisomy 18 (Down's Syndrome is an extra 23rd chromosome, Trisomy 18 is an extra 18th chromosome).

Essentially, it means a tough road for the family.

She started a blog to share her experiences, which I know will comfort many others, and is beautifully composed.

Many families with similar diagnosis elect to terminate the pregnancy, what I have no doubt is a heart wrenching decision- possibly one I would consider as well.

This family elected to follow God's will,

to not make that choice,

and let her little life play itself out as He sees fit.

And what a beautiful process.

They have been so open and sharing with their experience, sharing with us sitting helpless on the sidelines.

It is unfathomable to me how you look at a date,

you know it's coming,

you know it's going to be challenging,

it's going to be a monumental time for painful growth,

and you choose to find the beauty,

you see the gift in it.

Now there's a life lesson.

Living life with grace.

That's exactly what this family is doing.

They can walk this earth knowing they made the right decision for their beautiful fourth baby.

They allowed her to come to them on her terms and live her shockingly short little life swaddled in love.

Surrounded by the beauty of many people filled with unconditional love.

I prayed they could have a safe little bubble where they could relish their time together.

I wish it could have been longer for them.

But I know that Abby and God had a plan.

It has touched many lives already.

And I'll bet it will continue to do so for quite some time.

May God hold you in His arms Miss Abby Girl, may He keep your loving family close, and filled with the joy you brought them.

Birdies

June 28th was a special day.

Thanks to my sweet friend's incredibly hard work and determination, she made it a day to celebrate and honor.  That friend can move mountains, I believe it.

The opening of her cupcake shop- Sweet Charley B's was wildly successful, the line out the door and for stretches of time even around the corner.  She baked frantically from 2am until the afternoon when she just physically couldn't bake any longer and had run out of baking supplies.

And still, there were people wanting more.

That's how you do it.

You leave them wanting more.

I knew she'd develop a cult-like following.

And that she has.

This June 28th was also a big day for my Charlie.

He had to have 2 "fill in's" at the dentist, and because of his fear on the last "fill in's" they provided us with some anti-anxiety medicine to give the night before and morning of the big procedure.

So, he was a little off his game that day.

But we were all there to celebrate our sweet friend and witness the beyond-amazing day.

Then ambled over the the farmer's market.

Usually when we go over there the kids want an apple, a cookie, face painting, balloon animals- you know how it goes...

Friends were getting shave ice.

It's all so enticing to little eyes.

But not my Charlie.

He had his eye on something I never would have predicted.

There was an artist table set up where I'd never seen one before.  I'd never noticed this artist before.  And Charlie could not take his eyes off it.

He wanted a picture of a birdie more than you could know.

Such intense longing in those big green eyes.

We went over to look at them, hoping that might appease him.

We talked with the lady, and found out the framed ones were $40.

Not a price I was willing to pay to keep a kid happy.  $10 maybe.  Not $40, even though I appreciated the artist's work and it is a modest price for a numbered print.

The lady offered to take his picture with whatever he selected, to share with the artist.

I eventually talked him into a card which was not really what he wanted, but he picked one.

This is the card he selected- he tends to favor the Gold Finches.
Artist: Dee McDonald

He was still out of sorts and we walked away but he kept staring at that table.

His buddy Jamesy shared his shaved ice and he seemed to perk up a little.

I have no idea why I did this, but I asked him if he wanted to go back and get his picture with his card for the artist and he nodded yes.

So we went back and I asked the lady if she'd mind taking that picture.

He kind of grimaced rather than the big smile I expected, so I explained to her why he was out of sorts.

She told me she was a healer and asked if I minded if she put her hands on him, to see if she could help him feel better.

At that point I thought anything was worth a try so I agreed, watching Charlie's reaction to make sure he was fine with it.

He was pretty stoic but patient.

She also applied some essential oils behind his ears and while she did this she asked him his name.

"Charlie" was his solemn-face answer as they were eye to eye.

And the lady's eyes welled with tears.

The name moved her.

She said her dad had been Charlie too.

Then she stunned me by saying that she had a gift she would like to give him

if he would accept it.

She explained that the artist had provided her with a ($40) framed print to give to someone.  The artist had just said that the lady would know who to give it to, when the right person came along.

He choose to hang it over his bed so he could sleep by his birdie every night.

And that right person was my Charlie Bear, lover of all things living especially birdies, fishies, frogs, bugs, puppies, turtles, you name it he probably loves it.

My sweet little St Francis of Assisi.

Charlie.

It's a name (and people) I love- either spelled Charley or Charlie.

It's wondrous when you let yourself take in the beauty of people with pure hearts.

I'm grateful for that healer, the artist, and my little boy who looked past face painting, shave ice, and balloon animals.  Who was drawn to a talented artist whose subjects are some of God's most beautiful creatures.

We live in a beautiful world filled with kind and generous souls.

I hope that I take the time to notice and revel in it each time it happens before me.

Treasure Mama!

So, the reason I haven't posted any blogs in a while is because we've been a little more busy than usual.

We had a couple of birthdays 

happy birthday daddy

happy birthday carl

And a couple of chipped front teeth.

Just after this pretty girl walked in the Ken Lake 4th of July parade, did the gunny sack race, hoola hoop contest, face painting, etc she was doing a pull over on the trapeze, looked down mid-circle and saw that her undies were showing, lost momentum and whacked her two front teeth good.  Poor baby sobbed she was never going to be pretty with her eye, crooked teeth and then big chipped teeth.  The next day she spent over 2 hours in the dentist chair with a brief consultation with the endodontist.  

All of my kids except Carl (who currently doesn't have any front teeth) have damaged their front baby (and now big girl) teeth.  You're welcome Dr. Kapust- we want to keep you in business...

And she's as beautiful as ever.

Then we were on vacation for a good stretch of time.

It was delightful.

We headed over to Leavenworth and stayed with my sister-in-law for a few days and watched my nephew play baseball in 102 degree weather(!!)

Charlie was beyond happy catching fish, playing in the creek, and a prized little butterfly held just long enough to get this picture.

Elsa is quite a fisherwoman too.

The kids all love playing in the "cricket."

We stopped off at the rocky reach dam to see the salmon swimming.

Then we all headed over to Mark's parent's place in Mazama.  They brought their pop-up trailer so we had extra beds (the cabin has beds to sleep 4 and we're a whopping 10 together).  

It was so great!

The cabin is at the base of Goat Wall which is a big rock climber hot spot.  You can see that big stepped rock in this picture- they're at the base of that...

Funny story behind this picture.  I took it on our drive up a long, bumpy, twisty turney road to reach the highest spot in Washington you can drive to in your car.

We decided it was silly to take two cars, so my sister-in-law and I graciously offered to sit in the back-back of the suburban for the drive.

It was beautiful.

But not worth the car sickness and sore bum in my book.

Not to mention that we fell a mile shy of the tippy top because there was too much snow blocking the roadway.

In JULY!

Another day we took a hike to Cutthroat Lake.  It was beautiful.  And our very first family hike.

Mark and I even had 2 seconds together when I made him let me take a picture, then Sarina snapped this one of us.  I'm not sure if that's my hair or pit hair...

It was not without it's dramas (Elsa was carried 98% of the way and Charlie hit melt-down mode until Uncle Kirk stepped in).  

My guess is they're both thinking, "Brass Hole."

But it was our first as a family.  

I see big steps ahead of us in that arena.  

Good free entertainment with the benefit of doing a body good too.  

Perfect for a family of 6, I say!

The kids had plenty of practice with their BB guns and .22s.  Poor, poor little birdies...  Believe me we had a talk about that activity.

They swam in Pearrygin Lake and caught 2 delicious trout (just a bit of mayo and Johnnies grilled up- perfection!)

bringing in supper

he was a little unsure about the blood

They found "wiener man."  Can you see why they might call that funny piece of wood that?

They built an awesome fort.  Called the "SS Cabin Club"

a picture for a contest held by their dentist office

it was even big enough for a campfire

Big cousin Ben took time out to play with the youngest of the group.

And of course s'mores...

can you tell who's ridiculously tired?

I can't believe I almost forgot the whopper.

Our last night at the cabin we had it to ourselves.  

Our kids were out chasing a poor mama deer that made her second pass in front of the kids- right by their SS Cabin.  I was in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner and Mark was out squaring up and setting the posts in concrete for his dad's carport.

Shortly after, Miss Elsa can running up to me with her hands clasped tight.

"Mama I found treasure!" the "treasure" said in a pirate type voice.

She'd been finding treasure left and right for a while so I indulged her and asked if I could see it.

I truly wish I had stopped and taken a picture of said treasure in her sweet little baby girl hand.

Instead, I quicker-than-lightening shook said "treasure" into the garbage (we'd just had spaghetti for dinner- you'll notice).

Can you guess what that treasure is?

Yup.

Deer poop.

NASTY!

I don't know what it is with that girl and animal poop.  

Maybe she'll become an expert in it.  

I don't know.  

But it's disgusting.

I couldn't get her to the bathroom fast enough to start scrubbing those little baby girl hands.  I think we sang the alphabet song 10 times while we lathered, rinsed and lathered some more.

All in all it was such a beautiful, fun trip.  I tried to pare down the pictures but it was tough.  

Beautiful babies, beautiful scenery.

I hope they remember how fun it was.

As always, so very many events packed into a short time frame: birthdays, visit from the tooth fairy, chipped teeth, 911 calls, treasure, and travels.  

The fun just never, ever ends.  

And I hope it stays that way.  

Maybe with a little less 911, dentist trips, and poop.

oops #911

All but one of my children have dialed 911.

Does that somehow make it like the shoemaker's children not having shoes?

Grrrr...

The first to pull that stunt was Miss Sarina.  She did that on her daddy's watch and I vaguely remember her doing it.  I think it happened when I was at work.  It was when we lived on Carlyon (sniff sniff) which means it was before her second birthday.  

Miss Smarty pants.

I vividly remember Carl doing it.

We were in the "new" house.  I was crazy overwhelmed with 3 kids (ha!).  And probably for the first time ever I snapped at Carl.  I don't remember what it was over, but I do remember that I was frustrated with him and had to focus on Mr. Escape-Artist-Charlie-Bear.

I also remember that he threatened me with something then retreated to the bonus room.

I'd forgotten about him,while caught up in whatever had diverted my attention, until the phone rang.

It was 911 calling.

Someone little had called from our number saying they needed help.

Gulp.

Shit!

I assured them that everything was fine and I had a 2 year old who was pouting.

They still sent the sheriff out to check things out.

I knew everything was fine.  

But there was a teeny tiny voice in the back of my head saying, "What if?"  "What did he tell them?!"  

What if they for some insane reason thought he would be better off with them than me?  

I've seen those Dateline shows.

I did go weak in the knees.

Even more so when I saw the sheriff slowly roll down our driveway.

Mark went outside to talk to the sheriff, firefighter to cop.  I held Carl close and waved from the front porch so they could see he was ok.

But I was terrified.

It was all fine.  

No harm no foul.  

Thank God!

Then the other day (I don't recall exactly when but it was between my last post and today) Sarina fell and hurt her arm, I was in the middle of something I tried to {kind of} rapidly finish before checking her out.

Apparently Elsa didn't think I was moving fast enough.  

Fortunately (in her mind) we'd just read Little Critter To the Rescue (where Mercer Mayer's Little Critter calls 911 because his dad is locked in the basement and can't get out).  

So those magic little helper numbers were ready for recall.

And recall them dial she did... 911.

So, yet again, I got to explain to a dispatcher that no- we really didn't have an emergency and everything was just fine.

I wonder if they keep a list of kid callers...

We'd be triple time on it.

Culinary High

For some reason I've been feeling adventurous in the kitchen this week.

When it comes to patriotism you always think of fried chicken and apple pie.

And that fried chicken has intimidated me ever since I thought I might want to try to make it.  Kind of how bread used to scare the bajeezus out of me.

But this week, while Mark was at work, I made fried chicken (on the bone!).

It wasn't so hard, I just followed the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook's directions.  But I think next time I'll add a bit more flavoring.

I'll admit it made my house smell like a nasty old bar fryer.

But it turned out crispy, not too greasy and Carl enjoyed eating it!  They all did, but he's my pickiest eater...

Here's the recipe:

America's Test Kitchen's Extra-Crunchy Fried Chicken

Serves 4-6
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours (including 1 hour soaking time)

1 qt buttermilk
3 T salt
4 lb bone in chicken parts (sounds lovely doesn't it?)
5 cups all purpose flour
4 t baking powder
1 1/2 t dried thyme (I omitted)
1 t pepper (I used 2 and couldn't taste it-think I'll use way more next time)
1/2 t garlic powder
5-6 c vegetable or peanut oil

1. Whisk 3 1/4 c of the buttermilk and the salt together in a large bowl until the salt dissolves.  Add the chicken and coat thoroughly.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for no more than 1 hour (it will get too salty they say).

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, thyme, pepper and garlic powder together (I did it in a paper grocery bag).  Add the remaining buttermilk and rub it until it resembles coarse wet sand.  Remove the chicken from the brine, coat thoroughly with the flour mixture and lay it on a wire rack set over baking sheet while the oil heats.

3. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 200 degrees.  Pour oil in dutch oven and heat over medium high heat until 375 degrees (this is important- you don't want your oil to get below 315 degrees or it will end up oily and soggy).

4.  Add chicken (as much as you can fit without crowding the pan- I got 5 drumsticks in at a time).  After the first four minutes rearrange if needed to keep browning of the pieces even.  Cook for total of 10 minutes (it only took 6 for me).

5.  Turn pieces of chicken over.  Continue to fry another 10 minutes (6 for me), uncovered and maintaining oil temp of 315 until chicken pieces are deep golden brown on second side.

6.  Transfer the chicken to paper towel lined plate for 5 minutes then onto a cookie sheet with paper towels and wire rack in the oven.  Finish the rest of the chicken the same way.

And wall lah!

Done.

Then, this is the kicker.

Super proud of myself.

I did it.

I made edible Pad Thai.

I never thought it would happen for me.

I'd almost given up hope.

Especially after the last attempt which made my poor husband gag when he tried to take his first bite.

Usually he's a relatively good sport about the food I prepare.

And he's always eaten it.

But that last attempt at Pad Thai he couldn't even choke down one bite.

The only one who ate it was my younger cousin, who was living with us at the time, and somehow lost his sense of smell.

Darn fish sauce.  It's tricky to use.

But this recipe I saw on Pinterest and it boasted several things that appealed to me: easy, authentic (coming from someone who lived in Thailand for a time, and the big thing here... no fish sauce.

I had to try it.

I had everything for it, but wanted more noodles so I stopped by the Asian market on my way home from the lake today.  The lady there was sweet enough to show me the "fresh" rice noodles which you don't have to soak.  You just rinse and pop in the hot pan when it's the right time.

It was pretty darn good if I do say so.

Sarina had 4 helpings.

I doubled the recipe, added 7 chicken breast tenders sliced up and tossed with soy sauce to the recipe.  I think next time I'll triple the recipe (there weren't any leftovers and Mark wasn't home- no way was I going to make the poor guy a guinea pig on yet another pad thai pipe dream) and quadruple the sauce since mine dried up a bit for my taste.

Here's the recipe: http://browniesfordinner.com/2010/05/11/easy-pad-thai/ thank you brownies-for-dinner lady!  Now this mama-in-the-boonies can have pad thai again!  I've always said that since I've moved away from delivery and decent drive time to pick up food to go I'm able to make good pizza, my mexican is decent but that pad thai was something I really missed.  Not any more!  Yay!

Oh yeah, this is the "fresh" noodles the lady showed me from the refrigerator section.

I would have taken more pictures but the kids were ravenous after swimming at the lake all afternoon which left them ridiculously underfoot begging for snacks.  No time for snacks, no time for idle photographing.  But brownies-for-dinner lady has some great photos for you.

Enjoy!