My Kids + a Neighbor

Ok, so I just posted the same picture seven times.  Frankie's crackin' me up.  Nate's mom made these swimsuits for the kids, can you believe it?  No, there isn't anything she can't do.

You Want Pictures? I Got Your Pictures

The Barwicks came for Easter!  It was messy, and loud, and someone was always either crying or puking.  In other words, it was faaaaan-tastic.  Seriously, I loved every minute of it.

I took like five pictures they whole time they were here.  Mostly of Frankie. I don't know why, probably just because she's the only one who ever holds still long enough to say "cheese."

Frankie had the flu...

 but it was nothing a little Smooze couldn't fix. 

Heather said all kinds of nice things about our Easter...here.

We decided to tell the kids the truth about the Easter Bunny (and the rest of those sneaky magic gift-givers) this year.  Nate got the conversation off to a rolling start by yelling "Hey kids, there's no Santa!" while we were all driving home from the grocery store.

Jensie didn't believe it so when we got home I pulled out my secret little box of her baby teeth--proving that not only am I Santa, but the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and St. Patrick's Leprechaun too. Frankie had a really hard time not spilling the beans to Josh and Ezra.  She cracks me up.  Rabbit or no rabbit, they still took in a pretty good haul:



In other news, Jensie learned to sew!  While we were in Oregon last year Nate's mom helped her make a pair of pajama pants.  She's been waiting for me to help her with several other projects but I never seem to have the time.

Yesterday she decided to take matters into her own hands.  She spent all day stitching little gifts for the family--Nat, Nate, and I all got cell phone covers, Frankie got a "treasure pocket" and Asher got a "neck blanket."  She saved the best for herself though.   Who wouldn't?  Check out this awesome purse.

She's sew cool.

Hey, Mom!

"Can we try to catch a bird in this bowl?"

"Sure, if you want to."

Because it's actually impossible to catch a wild bird in a little bowl right?

What's tall and white and sore all over?

.








Give up?








Me!

Errin invited me to join her in a 12 week fitness challenge, Live Strong.  Live Strong and I are kicking each other's butts.  It only started Monday but I've exercised like a motha everyday since, literally.  Last night I made the kids run stairs with me yesterday.  They cried the whole time.  It was the best!

My favorite part of the challenge is working toward overcoming an addiction.  I've kicked sugar to the curb.  It was really my BFF Heather that got me to swear off the sweet stuff, but this video/article sealed the deal.  I haven't had sugar for a couple of weeks and feel better and better each day.  I love getting to give myself two points at the end of every day for sticking to it. Or NOT sticking to it...get it?  Get it? (That was awful).

The person with the most points at the end of the challenge wins.  I never get points for eating six servings of vegetables (but I don't eat six servings of anything else either), and I've only once gotten points for not eating after 8 pm.  I'm a night snacker.  Last night I ate an entire head of lettuce (fresh from the farmer's market) with some cranberries and sunflower seeds.  Hard to feel guilty about that!

One thing I want to be better about is "engaging my core" like the guy in P90X is always trying to get you to do--I want to call him Tony.  What's his name again?  I'm trying not to slouch while I sit and type this, but my abs are too sore to do this with much success.  Wanna know how they (my abs) got that way?  Of course you do.  Push-ups!  Isn't that weird?  I can do exactly TWO full man push-ups before I reach muscle failure. My toothpick arms really can't handle me so my abs have to do all the grunt work.  So impressive, I know.  Don't be jeal.

I should post some pictures huh.  I don't have any new ones so we'll use these:  Me, in Capitol Reef, right after Nate's first deployment.  I'm trail running so that's relevant right?  Plus, I have nice legs.

If you want to know what else is going on around here, you'll have to check out the kids' blogs. I'd better warn you though, Asher's blog is pretty graphic.  He doesn't hold back like I do.

(That's a joke.)

Peace out.

A Happy Find

Buried at the bottom of the Goodwill book bin was a rumpled little copy of A Hole Is To Dig A First Book of First Definitions by Ruth Krauss with pictures by Maurice Sendak.  It is the most delightful thing I have ever stumbled across.  

No one ever seems to care about stuff like this when I post it, but I don't mind.  I gotta shout it from the rooftops .  I love it so much that if (if haha) I were on a tight budget and had to choose between this book or food I would buy it with grocery money.  Luckily, you can get it on Amazon for about the price of a bunch of bananas.  

Inked

My son is obsessed with human anatomy.  This week's questions have lead to lengthy discussions on fallopian tubes and egg fertilization.  In fact, he's avoiding baths right now to preserve the "awesome tattoo" he gave himself.  It's three sperm trying to penetrate an egg.  See it?

After extensive study of the female reproductive system, Asher asked the inevitable "But how does sperm get inside the female in the first place?"  Dun dun dun...

Probably the only question I wasn't prepared to answer.  I called Nate in a panic, "What do I tell him?"  

"Tell him the truth." he said.  Just like that.  At the ripe old age of five my son is well versed in the birds and the bees.  There's just one thing he can't get quite right--women have a few too many holes to keep track of.  The pee hole, the egg hole, and the...what's the other one?

Yongsan

We may actually be moving to Yongsan-gu, a province of Seoul, which is great because we'll have a little more elbow room. Kidding!  I've never lived in a City city.  I can't wait!

Bah, Time! Who Needs It?

Frankie took this picture too.  I like it.

Homeschool.  We took a lot of time off this year.  Weeks off when Nate came home.  Weeks off for Thanksgiving and the rest of the festivities.  Weeks off because it was cloudy.  Weeks off because the sun came out...We have officially hit 160 days of school.  We have met the minimum requirement mandated by the state of Georgia.  I'm still worried that I haven't done enough.  I thought we'd continue through the summer.  Then I thought Who am I kidding?  

Sometimes I wonder how moms from "the olden days" taught their children. Like, how did women who had to darn socks and nurse fifteen babies find time to educate their little ones?  Then I remember that most of the "olden day" kids were completely illiterate.  So basically they are no help to me at all. 

I think I kind of suck at time management.  I was once penalized for using the word "suck" in an English paper.  My tenth grade English teacher wrote in fat red pencil that vulgar language would not be tolerated in her class.  I tried really hard just now to come up with a better word, but, well...it's still there isn't it.

Today I paid very close attention to my kids.  I looked them in the eye.  I laughed at their jokes.  We played at the park and colored, for hours.  I was feeling smug off success.  Then I ignored my husband all evening to check my facebook.  Boo.

Tomorrow though, we are going on an early morning bike ride.  Mornings here are divine.  Sweet and breezy, just perfect really.  I will tell him I'm sorry and give him extra kisses before he leaves for work.

And I will try again to give them all the love and affection they really deserve.  Is it just me, or does it seem like there really isn't enough time in the day?

Frankie's a Genius

Frankie: Can I have some rubberbands?

Me: I don't know if we have any.

Frankie: Um, you have one in your ponytail.

Oh.  Right.

And just like that, her horses all had gallant riders.

She took these too!

Welcome to the World Baby Zander

My newest nephew, Zander Austin Cook.  Maybe the cutest baby yet.

Aggie

I hated you, tolerated you, liked you, then loved you.

Now, I miss you.

I'm glad you've got a big new family.  So long you sweet shaggy dumb dog.  It's been real.

We're Moving

to Daegu, South Korea!

Photo credits here & here.

I Love These Days

Doh!

Asher's hair was perfect.  Then I went and paid someone to give him Dumb and Dumber bangs. I meant to take "after" pics the minute we got home, but put if off for a couple of weeks.   Now I realize it's not so bad after all. Hallelujah.

Your Goose is Cooked

Actually mine is, but it sounds better the other way around.  In case you were wondering, having a Chinese goose in the middle of the city is a terrible idea.  It's like a fog horn blaring 24/7.  Neighbors start asking questions.

We determined pretty quickly that Goosey Lucy had to go.  Nate presented three options to me: 1- return her to the farmer we'd purchased her from, 2- let her loose in the woods, 3- eat her.  The latter seemed most sensible.

Nate dressed her out in the driveway with the help of the kids.  Lots of lessons learned.  Her breast meat was so different from other poultry, Nate begged me to "take a picture of them on a white plate!"  You know me, I aim to please.

Once you've slaughtered a goose, here's how to cook it up:

(Refridgerate the meat at least overnight before cooking it.  We waited a week.)

2 large goose breasts
2-3 T olive oil
1 med red onion
3-4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup white wine
course sea salt, pepper

Sauté onion and garlic together over med heat until onions become translucent (about 10 mins).  Push onion and garlic mix to the sides of your pan and add both breasts to the center of your pan.  Cover meat with some of the onions, pour in broth and wine.  Generously salt and pepper.  Cover pan and reduce heat to low.  Let simmer until meat is cooked through.

Be careful not to over do it.  Goose cooks more like beef than poultry.  I oughta know.  Make sure it's warm but leave it slightly pink in the middle.

It's so delicious Asher's been begging us to start a "goose farm," and Jensie has declared her favorite foods to be "pizza and goose!"