Gingerbread in June

Because why not?

I've never made gingerbread before, and the kids wanted to do something tasty. I don't remember how gingerbread came up, but we decided to go for it.* We found a recipe that even suggested the shape of the pieces and such. It turned out easier to make the dough and harder to actually fit things together than I thought it would be. Learning new stuff! YAY! Next time we make a gingerbread house, though, I really want to make a gingerbread hobbit hole.

We all got a side to decorate, and we used Coriel's cake-spinner-thing that she got from her cake decorating class. So, win!


*Lest you're in the background thinking how cool and spur-of-the-moment I am, let me add that our plans had been cancelled that day, and the kids were sad, and I had to really gear up mentally to do it. Meaning it took me several hours to get up the oomph, and it was after I was already prepared to do something different and fun that day. 

Koa's side. It's a door. Which should be obvious, right?

I have always wanted to do the shingles on a gingerbread roof. Now I have! They started out better than they finished. :)

Brice's side. Awwww!

This is Coriel's heart door. See the doorknob?

My hand-cut gingerbread man.

Addra's roof piece.

A glance at the whole thing, sort of.
In front: Koa's lion/hippo/not sure what it is, but he was determined that it stand up next to the house.
In back: Coriel's happy heart person.
The plate we're working on: Yes, it is indeed the plate that I made when I was six years old. You can't see it, but it has my standard pregnant unicorn on it. All my unicorns back then were pregnant-looking (though not actually pregnant).
The blue rim underneath is the cake decorating wheel thingie.

Totally our kid

There are moments when you turn around and think, "Yep, that kid is definitely mine." This is one of those moments.

So far

Things I may or may not have done so far today:

*Eaten cheesecake in hiding. For breakfast.

*Let the baby chew on a shoe.

*Looked at the 9yo's outfit and thought, "Oh well. At least it's weather appropriate?"

So pretty much I'm winning.

Wolves

A few days ago, I prayed so hard that I would be able to be patient and be kind and see the positive in the kids. I've been really struggling with them lately.

But then Addra wanted a YouTube drawing video. And then she didn't like the one she chose. Then she wanted a new one and wanted to scroll through tons to find it. Then she started getting upset because it was too hard, she said.

All this time I was getting increasingly frustrated at her. Just pick something! Just try again! It's okay if it's not perfect!

She was crying and upset and just curled up in a blanket by the computer, and I just didn't think I could be nice about this. I knew she needed a snuggle and some comforting, but I didn't want to do it. I went to find Brice to get him to help her so that I didn't make it any worse, but he was eating breakfast and I didn't want to stop him in the middle of a bowl of cereal.

So I took a breath and went back. I sat down beside the red blanket lump and pulled her partially into my lap and started rubbing her back. I told her that I loved her, over and over, and listened to her sadness at how hard the video was. At first I had to bite my tongue to keep from getting cranky at her, but slowly the back rub and snuggling soothed me too.

Five minutes later, I asked if she wanted to try again. Brice brought another pencil and paper, and we both watched the video and tried to draw from it. I paused it frequently so she could erase or catch up, and eventually we were both done.

She was totally happy again and was satisfied with her wolf drawing, and we'd had some happy, loving time together. 

Without a doubt I can say that this was a gift from God. Brice being busy so I had to handle it. My recognition and acceptance of what she needed just then--not criticism or pushing her to try harder, just a snuggle. And most of all the inner strength to actually do what was needed when I didn't want to. It turned an ugly interaction--the kind of thing that we've been having far too frequently these days--into a loving one. I'm so grateful for that gift.

Send in the chocolate reinforcements

Ever have one of those days where you have awesome intentions and then your child has a meltdown and then you have to put yourself in time out for ten minutes so you don't say something you'll really regret and then later you're cleaning the bathroom and your toddler runs the water out of the sink all over the floor and then you get through that crisis too and then your child drops a pickle jar on the floor and it breaks and the toddler is mad he can't play in the kitchen and the six year old is upset she can't eat the pickles and then she hides and screams and all you really want is to steal the entire bowl of pudding that your husband made and hide in your bedroom to eat it but you can't because the cranky, tired baby would probably grab it and spill it all over the carpet?

No? You haven't?

Me neither.

Some days are cooler than others

On some days, truthfully, I am in a foul mood and everything my children do drives me crazy. Then there are other days when they are pretty much the coolest people I've ever met.*

Today has been one of the cool days.

Coriel has to make a brochure for a pretend wizard shop. She's making The Better Broomstick. Part of the description for one of her products is "with the Hexer as your ride, you don't need a guide." The whole thing is pretty much fantastic, and she surely has a brilliant future in advertising.

Yesterday Addra made an alicorn out of a plastic bin. Also, today she drew this awesome picture that's just massively cute.

Koa has taken to wandering around in roller skates. Also, at breakfast this morning, he was dual wielding his spoons.

Ammon is popping out two more teeth and eating everything in sight.

I may be biased, but I think they're pretty cool.

*Middle-aged Mormon Man has a theory about that, which I think it's probably correct. But also, some days my kids are just extra nifty.

"After" Pics for the Room Makeover

Hey, remember when we totally redid the girls' bedroom for Coriel's eighth birthday? Well, I'm finally posting some pics. I don't currently have the "before" pics because that would have required me remembering to take some (my lovely sister D took some, but she's got them, not me). If I get them, I'll try to remember to add them here.

For now, here are the "after" pics. And when I say "after," I mean right after. Because within an hour or two, it was kinda messy, and it just has not been the same since. :)

Note the tie fighter hanging over the bed. Also, my sister K insisted she had to put those cute stripes of purple/blue around the bed because the previous color clashed. I mocked her for her efforts, because they would be only temporary (it's construction paper, and it's mostly gone by now), but she was right. It did look much better.

Sister D made the cute curtains. she helped me learn to make the two bulletin boards hanging above the blue chair.

See how beautiful and neat those shelves look? Sigh. Now they look a little like a junkyard.

Our artwork isn't actually finished, but I'll get around to it someday. The girls and I did these together.

One of my awesomest ideas ever, brought to life by the sewing sister D again. It's a bedcave! The little curtains can be taken down (they're velcroed up), and they can also be closed so that there's a little cave area under the bed. Good times.

I'm pretty sure every home decor show ever has the scene where you recover a bench or chair or something, and it's "just so easy!" So I decided I had to give it a try. This bench used to be a polka-dotted red, and now it's a lovely gray/white zigzag. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, but it was still not too hard. Thanks again to D, who found the perfect fabric and helped do it. She was just awesome in this process overall, and I wouldn't have been able to get it done without her and K helping me.

Doesn't it look so nice and bright and clean and uncluttered?

The awesome sister who helped make it better than it would have been without her.

Coriel being very excited about it.

Okay, it's a blurry picture, but it's still fun!

Because obviously tables are for standing on.

The bedcave curtains closed.

2015: A Brief Recap

Happy 2016! Our 2015 was pretty great, with the obligatory bad parts too—but overall, really wonderful. We have been very blessed. Highlights?

Our tenth anniversary, which we celebrated by taking all of us on a cruise. It was great fun, and we gained the obligatory several pounds (at least I did), but in the end we decided we’re not really cruise people. We’ll do it occasionally maybe but not really go out of our way for it. I had a giant blog post planned about this vacation, and I was so very funny in it. Just imagine me being hilarious and entertaining. There you go.

Koa developed all sorts of great abilities, and also many more teeth. You know, he learned the whole crawling, walking, running, babbling (though not really officially talking yet), eating all sorts of food, etc. The fun thing about the baby stage is just how many awesome accomplishments they check off in these first couple years. So 2015 was a big year for him.

Our stake was reorganized, so we and a few other families got moved out of the Glen Burnie Ward to the Brooklyn Park Branch. It has been quite an adjustment, but we have faith that this was what God wanted in this little corner of His church.

I, of course, got pregnant. Yay! And in case we didn’t mention it to you yet, we’re having a boy. And please don’t make some comment about, “Oh good, now Koa will have a friend.” Because then I will be tempted to shake my fist at you. Strangely, I have noticed that it’s possible for boys and girls, brothers and sisters, to be friends with each other! Shocking! My very best friend growing up was my older brother. While of course I hope Koa is awesome friends with his little brother, I also hope that all of the siblings will continue to get along in reasonable sibling fashion, regardless of gender. (Yikes, that turned into a soapbox! Whoops!)

I think probably the biggest and most exciting event of last year was Coriel’s baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are so proud of her for making this decision, and I continue to be amazed by what a great person she is. Honestly, I could gush forever. I’m just so happy she’s my kid and that she’s growing up to be such a lovely, wonderful young woman.

That was a very broad recap, and it left out all sorts of wonderful things from the previous year—things like my book club friends, homeschool and co-op, Brice’s runs, Addra’s fabulous fashion, and so many other things. But it’s the best I can do at the moment.

Stay tuned soon for a post in which I link to and recap a few of my favorite and/or important posts from the MMW blog I write at. I’ve been meaning to do that forever, in case you don’t follow me there, and now I’m finally going to get around to it.

In the meantime, much love to you, my biggest fans. AKA, my friends and foo who are too polite to just ignore me. Love you all!

Iron Chef: Stay Style

Here I am, making some dinner.

Brice and I were cooking chicken nuggets for dinner this last Friday, when Coriel declared that we were going to have an Iron Chef competition.

Normally when she declares such things, I turn on my practical mommy routine and say, “Some other time, when we have planned it, dear.” But the hour was not too late, and there was no real reason why we shouldn’t, so Brice and I kind of looked at each other and shrugged. And the game was on.

If you have never watched Iron Chef competitions, you really should (you can watch some for free on hulu.com). They’re delightful and over-the-top. Essentially, two chefs have one hour to prepare five dishes, all of them using a secret ingredient that they are about to discover. In the end, they’re judged on taste, originality, and presentation.

So first we needed the secret ingredient, chosen by Coriel. Drum roll, please . . .

Chicken nuggets!

We decided three dishes was enough for our competition, and I think we ended up with about 45 minutes to prepare (we got a couple time extensions; we started with 30).

Coriel got into her job as Chairwoman (the person who runs the contest), reporter (the one who follows the chefs around, asking them questions about their dishes), and the judge (um . . . the one who judges?). She came up and pushed an invisible microphone into our faces and said, “What are you doing here, chef?” or “It looks like you’re making something with nuts.”

In the meantime, Addra was mostly just standing around watching happily. Brice and I were brainstorming and cooking and realizing that we are not quite up to Iron Chef material. But we’re still epic.

So here’s what we ended up with, complete with opinions/judgments (mostly rendered by me and Brice; Coriel only had a few things to say, and Addra was mostly just eating). We hoped that Addra and Coriel would try most of the dishes, but that didn’t quite work out as hoped. Partially because they preferred to simply dismantle the dishes and occasionally eat the components separately. Also for another reason you’ll discover at the end.

Brice’s dishes:

We decided our favorite presentations were his
coconut nuggets and my parmesan plate nuggets.

* Nuggets on a bed of crunch carrot slices (we thought the crunch of the carrots was nice and refreshing, but it would have worked better if it was one thin round slice instead of a bunch of little slivers; Coriel ate the carrots separate)

* Nuggets on a bed of ramen noodles (this was the losing dish for me and Brice, but not surprisingly it was the winning dish for Coriel—although she ate the components separate)

* Nuggets with a garnish of sweetened coconut and chopped macadamia nut (this was one of the two top dishes for me and Brice—it was actually quite tasty, and we added some of the topping to more of the nuggets afterward; the slight sweetness of the coconut was very good with the nuggets)

Originally I'd only made two tasting samples, and then I realized
I should have made them for me and Brice as well as the kiddos. Duh.
So that's why I have different presentations for some.

Jeanna’s dishes:

* Nuggets with a brown sugar and acorn squash puree, topped with a toasted walnut (seriously! I toasted a walnut! I’d never done that before) (this was an okay dish, but something about the spices of the nuggets didn’t go well with the acorn squash; the components were better separate than together)

* Nuggets on a parmesan plate with a garnish of dried cranberry (this was the other winner for me and Brice; we again loved the slight sweetness of the cranberry with the nugget; also, a nice little parmesan crisp is awesome)* (<--that’s a footnote)

* Bacon-wrapped nuggets (too heavy on the bacon for me and Brice; Addra just ate the bacon)

In the end, Coriel barely tried any of these dishes. She said her stomach wasn’t feeling good. At first I partially wondered if this was her excuse to not try weird stuff. But since we’d had stomach flu going around, it was debatable. Well, she proved the truth of her statement about an hour later; nope, her stomach definitely wasn’t feeling good. So it was probably a good thing she hadn’t eaten much.

However, Brice and I had such a fun time being Iron Chefs and trying to be creative with our food. It was a fantastic Friday night (even with the barfy ending), especially given the lack of good dates we’d been having lately. Sure, the kids were there, but it still felt like an awesome date night like we used to have back in the oh-so-distant past. I highly recommend this for a great, fun activity—and, with older kids, have them compete too!**

Okay, now I’m sure you’re dying to know who the winner was, right?

It was Brice, of course! Mmmm . . . the judge loved that ramen.

* In case you were wondering, here’s how you make a parmesan crisp: sprinkle some parmesan in a little circle on a plate—it has to be actually shredded parmesan, not the sprinkly powdered kind—and microwave it for about 30 seconds. So good!

** Another time, we’d probably suggest that Coriel compete with us, or that we do teams, but she definitely wasn’t interested this time.

Parenting Win!

Today I was handwashing a few dishes, and Coriel came over to see what I was doing. Then she asked if I could teach her how. I certainly wasn’t going to say no to that, so I gave her the scrubber and explained how to wash the plate. Afterward she worked on a cup that had some stuck-on goo, and I told her that sometimes you have to really, really scrub—do “epic battle” with the gunk. So there we are, me watching my daughter scrubbing dishes with relish and saying, “Arrrr, epic battle! Epic battle!” It was awesome.

In other, unrelated bric-a-brac:

If I didn’t mention it already, I have a bunch of updates on my writing blog. Also, one of the agents that I queried asked for a full copy of my manuscript! This is extremely exciting, and I’m pretty sure that after I freaked out a little, I squealed and jumped up and down a bunch. And then of course I resumed a very professional, calm demeanor that said, “Of course I expected this. I’m just that awesome.” Please note, however, that giving a full manuscript to an agent is a little like being pregnant. It takes forever for anything to happen. Also, you start feeling a little twitchy when people repeatedly ask, “So, any news yet?”/“So, have you had that baby yet?” In other words, if I have good news, believe me, I’ll share. In the meantime, feel free to not ask.

Also, let the bloodletting begin! In the ten minutes I was out in my garden this afternoon, I acquired four mosquito bites.