Smiling

After a mother has smiled at her child for many days and weeks, she finally receives her child's smile in response.  She has awakened love in the heart of her child.  - Hans Urs Von Balthasar

(Love, love, love this quote!)

Thomas Confusion

Will the real Thomas please step forward.

Maria Loves

Maria loves snuggling with Clare and Mom and Dad.

But if no one is available (and even sometimes when they are), she loves her pacifier, especially the one with a pony.

Look into our eyes

The flash was weird on this picture but you can clearly see the color of the girls' eyes.

I wonder if Maria will keep the blue eyes or lose them, all of the other kids have hazel or brown eyes.



Toothbrushing

We have fought and fought with Thomas over brushing his teeth.

In the past I have ended up sitting on him to accomplish this.

Finally he is allowing us to brush and floss those teeth without (much of) a fight.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm not the only one who likes to read in this house.

The other children can't yet, but I'm sure they'll like it as much as Clare.

Book #6 - River of Smoke

I have finally found my way into the realm of fiction, and a very good beginning it was too.

River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh, was the only book whose title and author I recognized on the notable book lists.  Last summer I read Ghosh's Sea of Poppies which is the first in a triology.  I was very excited to find River of Smoke in the paper and also (finally) at my library.

River of Smoke may be historical fiction, but is beautifully researched.  The book focuses on the opium trade in Canton, China around 1840.  At this point in history, the British and others are bringing thousands of pounds of opium to China.  The Chinese government has decided to stop the import.  What follows is story of the tensions of the ship owners and those around them.

The last 100 pages of the book are gripping when the English merchants are trying to decide whether or not to obey the Emperor and stop smuggling opium.  They claim that the Emperor should have no power over a "free market," despite the evils inherent with the smoking of opium.  The author includes 2 real letters from the time period and has drawn many of the characters in the book from their own documents.

There is also a interesting subplot tied in concerning botany and chinese flowers.  I never realized how many beautiful flowers have their origins in China.

This is historical fiction at it's finest, and an enjoyable read.

One warning:  the author really likes dialect.  I have found this somewhat overwhelming in the beginning both of his books, since he is usually has at least 5 dialects he is working with.  One of the reviews cites his "appetite for polyphony."

Image credit:  Wikipedia: Poppy

Princess' Tea Cookies

There's something about a snowy day that makes me want to bake cookies.

I had talked myself out of it when Clare presented me with a recipe she wanted to make from the 1998 Beanie Baby Handbook.

In my head, I was convinced that any recipe in a book designed to market small stuffed animals would be mediocre at best, but we decided to give it a shot.

Clare picked out a recipe for Princess' Tea Cookies, and they were awesome!

That's not to say I didn't predict doom and gloom while we made them.

The cookies are tiny. Each cookie is only 1 tsp full of crumbly dough, which you pack into a ball, and then make a small indent on top. 

Then you add a tiny bit of jam to each cookie.  We did 2 flavors - strawberry and raspberry.

It turns out that they are delicious and bite size.  Kudos to Clare for picking out a tasty recipe that will be added to the family favorites.

Snowy Day

It snowed here last night.

This morning 3 adventurous members of our family ventured out into the cold for an hour or so.

 And three of us stayed home

This little one insisted on staying inside in his pajamas and eating a treat for going on the potty.



Quick Takes

1)  We've started potty training with Thomas this week and he's doing great.  The only funny thing is that he insists that he cannot get off the potty chair by himself.  He needs help.  Perhaps we are letting him sit there too long.

2)Gregory is working hard learning to read.  We are on lesson 15 of the 100 lessons. He's beginning to sound out words and gets a big thrill out of it.  I love how excited he is, and how the system seems to be working.  Clare is jealous that we didn't do these with her, but she refused to do after lesson 3 or so.

3)My dad is allergic to celery.  I googled 'celery allergy' to find substitutions and discovered on wikipedia:

Celery is among a small group of foods (headed by peanuts) that appear to provoke the most severe allergic reactions; for people with celery allergy, exposure can cause potentially fatal anaphylactic shock. The allergen does not appear to be destroyed at cooking temperatures. Celery root—commonly eaten as celeriac, or put into drinks—is known to contain more allergen than the stalk. Seeds contain the highest levels of allergen content. Exercise-induced anaphylaxis may be exacerbated. An allergic reaction also may be triggered by eating foods that have been processed with machines that have previously processed celery, making avoiding such foods difficult. In contrast with peanut allergy being most prevalent in the US, celery allergy is most prevalent in Central Europe.  In the European Union, foods that contain or may contain celery, even in trace amounts, must be clearly marked as such.

Who knew?

4)Maria wants someone to take her skiing!  She's ready to hang out at the chalet and drink warm milk.

By the way, do you think that little outfit is too boyish?  She looks so cute in it, and it is so warm.
 
5)I love our pediatric dentist and dental insurance.  Thomas needed quite a bit of dental work done and because of his age he needed an iv sedation.  Having had 2 of these procedures for Clare when she was younger we just assumed that we had lost all of the money for the iv sedation.  Most dental and medical insurances won't cover it.
 
Thanks to our dentist's letter and knowledge of the system, we applied for reimbursement and actually got it! They knew exactly how to work the system to make sure we got the maximum benefits we could, and I am so grateful. 
 
6) I'm excited about a ministry that I just signed up for.  Between books 4 and 5 of my project I read Same Kind of Different As Me, which is partially about homelessness.  I felt like I really wanted to do some kind of homeless ministry, like working at a soup kitchen but couldn't think of any convenient avenues where I live.
 
Yesterday an email appeared in my inbox asking for volunteers to make meals for the homeless in Leesburg.  I see the timing as God's blessing and, after talking to John, signed up.  We'll see how it goes, making sack meals for 15 people.
 
7)Clare and Maria sharing a little breakfast moment before school.  Our night owl hates getting up so early each morning to get to the bus.  Most of the time, she and I are the only 2 up and everyone else rises one by one after Clare leaves.  This morning Maria joined us.

 
Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Tummy Time

I simply could not leave such an unpleasant post as Book #5 at the top of my blog, so I decided to post more pictures of Maria.

We've been working on tummy time and our strong little girl has been lifting up her head.

It must be exciting to be cheered left and right by your siblings for every little thing you do.

Gregory loves to get right next to her and encourage her.

However, this picture shows you how Maria really feels about the whole thing

"I've lifted up my head, I can see you, now PICK ME UP!



Book #5 - Never Say Die

It's title may sound like a James Bond movie but, Never Say Die by Susan Jacoby, is actually a terrifying, non-fiction book about aging.  The full title, Never Say Die:  The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age, is a bit clearer.

There are many scary chapters packed with facts. There is one on Alzheimer's disease, 50% of people have it over the age of 85%.  Another on lonely old women - 66% of those who live past 85 are women, and another on how it is almost impossible to save enough for retirement.  It doesn't matter how well off you are, you can't do it.  She debunks, in her opinion, that the elderly are wise, leans towards assisted suicide, and laments the quality of the health care system in our country (not just for the old, but for everyone).

Jacoby is a lady with a heavy dose of anger. She says so herself, "I intend to be an angry old woman, a discontented work in progress, as long as my mind continues to function." (289) The book is something of angry rant.  She is also an atheist and doesn't seem to know who she wants to be mad at for the injustice of growing old, and the injustices the elderly face.  Obama, congress, the baby boomers (who she puts into 2 categories, older and younger), our greedy selves, scientists, even herself - no one but God, because he doesn't exist.  There is no point to it in her opinion, and no solutions, and unless many things change, no hope for those old folks who will lose everything before they die, especially their minds to Alzheimer's.

While the book was very informative and alarming, I mostly felt sad for the author.  I am still processing the information,  but so far it has prompted me to talk with John about medical directives and savings plans.  It is good to be reminded of one's mortality and to have one's conscience nudged to remember the elderly in my community, whether living at home or in institutions.

Wordless Wednesday - Show me the money!

A New Look

Gregory found Maria's brush and decided to give her, in his own words, "a new look".

He brushed and brushed what little hair she has.

 Then he found that cute little head band and put it on her too.

I'm not sure what Maria thought.  She loves having her hair brushed, but didn't like the head band.

This necessitated a new accessory - her binky.

Family Bingo Night

What we did last night

Fun was had by all!

Quick Takes - If you have a 2 month old edition

1) Maria is 2 months old.  If you have a 2 month old, you might like to take pictures of her.

2)If you like to take pictures of your 2 month old, you might decide to pose her with a large stuffed pony every month to record her growth.

3) But if you use the pony as a prop, you might have a 2 year old decide it's time to pony wrestle.

4) If Thomas wrestles the pony, he might pin it.

 5)  If Thomas pins the pony, Gregory might come lie on top of him.  And much cuteness will ensue

6)I'm so glad to have a 2 month old, a 2 year old, 5 year old, and 7 1/2 year old.  Clare's 1/2 birthday was Wednesday - which means she's almost 8, and her first confession is less than 1 month away.  I am in shock at this prospect.  It has come so fast. Clare is looking so much more like a big kid than a little kid.

7)The days are passing by so quickly.  I'm so afraid that I'll go to sleep tonight with Maria looking like this:

and wake up with her looking like this:

which means that Clare will be almost 16!

Have a great weekend - it's going to fly by, great or not.

Rhyme Time

Me:  What rhymes with at?
Gregory: Mat!
Me:  That's right.  What else....with an ssss sound?
Gregory: Sat!
Me:  Can you think of another that starts with a rrrrr sound....a small animal?
Gregory: Parrot!

Book #4 - Catherine the Great

I feel like I've been traveling Europe in my readings, from Greece to Germany.  In this last book not only did I get to "visit" France, Austria, England and Prussia, but Russia as well.

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, by Robert K. Massie is delightful.  At the very end of the book Massie writes:

"I must acknowledge the extraordinary pleasure I have had in the company of the remarkable woman who has been my subject.  After eight years of having her a constant presence in my life, I shall miss her."

This pleasure in his subject shines through the book.  It felt like I was reading a fairy tale with a brave, struggling heroine.  In the second half the heroine is now an empress and sometimes takes on aspects of a wicked stepmother.  It is hard to dislike Catherine even at her most petty, controlling or power hungry.  Overall, she appears to have desired to be a worthy empress and do the best for her beloved Russia.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and am looking forward to reading other works by Massie.

Bright eyes

Trying to capture Maria's elusive smiles

Little Readers

Just a cute picture of Thomas "reading" a book to himself.

On a side note, Gregory is starting to learn to read.  We're working on it every day.  He's been very eager and brings me our lessons each morning, ready to go.

If all goes well, in 100 days or so, he should be reading.  At least that's what the book says. ;)  We'll see how it goes in real life. 

My favorite kind of weekend

It's nice to have a weekend with warm weather, walks, football, friends and assorted games with the kids.

Sometimes Gregory uses Daddy as a chair

We had our friends over on Saturday (for football and fellowship) and the kids really got into "styling" each others hair

Here they are trying to see what they look like on an old camera.

It must have been a crazy weekend too, since I found a dog in our chandelier.

 

And it was crazy since the Broncos won (can you believe it?!), and little Maria kept wondering why I was acting like a crazy woman, shouting and jumping up, in front of the TV.

Lamby Love

The boys love putting Maria's lamb in the bouncer with her.

And she doesn't seem to mind snuggling with it.