Halloween Preview

I have such a funny and wonderful husband! I had to convince Ben to get this in the store. People come in costume at his work and he is "manager of fun". I thought this was totally him. I can't help but laugh every time I see him in this.

Why Boys Need Parents and Live Long

What am I going to do if this one is a boy? Kidding... boys are adorable... but these made me laugh.




This is me in retirement.


I love audacious older people!

My New Favorite Song

Every once in a while I get "obsessed" with a song. This song is my new one. I love Ernie and I even like ol' Aaron Neville in this one. :) If I was still teaching school I would be teaching this song to the kids for sure. They would love it.

Plastic Hat

The other day it was the metal helmet, today it is the plastic hat. Rusty the dog is staying with us for a few days, which Gwen loves. Today she kept getting into the dog food and dog water. It took about 10 times with the "rod" (wooden spoon) on her forearm and me telling her no to get that that was off limits. I told her she could play in the tupperware and she did. This is what she came up with. I couldn't help but laugh... she looks like Charlie Chaplin or something.

Chorale Babies

These three were all born within a few months of each other. Here they are socializing at the welcome back party for the Chorale.

Helmet Head and After Dark

Gwen got this mixing bowl out yesterday and went around the house using as a hat. Like the carefully matched clothes? :)


This is what happens to a six month pregnant lady after dark. Scary huh?

Robb Mansion

This is a house I am going to sing at in December. I'm singing with a quartet. I've been to this house once before and it was with my choir, the day before my due date with Gwen. Charles, our conductor, made a big deal out of it and asked if there was a doctor in the house and told everyone that it was the day before my due date. This year... I return again all big and round. If they remember me, it will seem like I've been pregnant forever. ha! I have honestly never been in a house, where people actually live, that is so fancy. When we went there before we all went to the bathroom and discovered they had toilet paper with the letter "R" embossed on there. We discovered later that all of us in my car that we carpooled together had taken some of that same toilet paper home to show our spouses. The couple that owns this home are both lawyers.

Gwen Update

I took Gwen to the doctor today and she weighed in at 23 lbs. and 2 oz- the 54th percentile for her age. She is 32 inches tall and that is in the 89th percentile! Wow... is she going to be tall maybe? That would be unlike me for sure. She got two shots today, is cup training (no bottle), and I've started disciplining her for ignoring my "no". She's having kind of a tough day! Maybe that's too much in one day.. but there is never a good time for all these projects. I've already put off cup training because of Korea, guests in the house, teething... the list goes on. I think when you start doing this stuff like true training (potty, cup...whatever) that's when you earn your parenting badges. All I want to do is kiss that chubby face of hers and make her laugh. It's slowly sinking in that it can't be like that all the time. Well... enough of my rant for today.

Meal Plan

teriaki turkey breast tenderloin, rice, peas
buttery orzo with cherry tomatoes, grilled chicken, cantaloupe
steak and mashed potatoes, green beans
stuffed peppers
tomato sandwiches or stew or chili- haven't decided yet
woops... forgot the butternut squash I bought. I'll fit that in somewhere. I love that stuff!

*special- blackberry cobbler

I had a hard time making up my mind this week what to make. (except for the cobbler- ha) The orzo recipe I got from a friend at home group and it's delicious. If your family are fans of pasta like my little girl is... it will be a hit. You know I've got the cherry tomatoes for this recipe... tomatoes are running out of my ears still and I'm lovin' it.

Buttery Orzo with Cherry Tomatoes

1 1/4 C uncooked orzo pasta, 8 oz.
3 T butter
1 onion, chopped, 1 C
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 C white wine or chicken broth (I used the wine)
1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley (don't add too much or you will only taste the parsley)
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

Cook orzo according to package directions, drain. Meanwhile, in pot, melt butter over med-high heat. Add onion, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3-4 min.
Add wine; boil 1 minute. Stir in orzo and tomatoes. Over medium heat, cook until heated through, 1/2 min. Remove from heat. Stir in parsley and zest.

*This makes quite a lot, so if you are worried about the term "buttery" being in there it's actually not that much when you divide it out into portions. It's really enough to feed 5-6 people easily as a side dish. Bon a petite!

Nothing In Particular

So these days Gwen has been just begging to run around in the yard. Up until now, I thought it was ridiculous to spend $13 on shoes that she will wear a grand total of probably 3 months. (I'm cheap) BUT I finally splurged and got her one pair. She loves to walk around in them and is starting to look like a full fledged toddler. These shoes are her only ones and they are white. What was I thinking?


She loves to pick up anything that crosses her path when she strolls in the yard. She however does not like it when I take things away from her. You can imagine.


Today we went out as a family to home depot to look for a vacuum filter (exciting huh?) and ended up at Sonic. Ben got ice cream and I got a fruit slushy thing. I took about 5 sips and the baby inside of me was leaping with glee. I decided that was probably enough sugar then. We also got a glass of water. Ben first ordered a little cup of water and then said, naa... give me a big one. They brought out a 44 oz glass of ice water. It was enormous! What human needs a drink that big??? Ben drove us to a more scenic place to eat/drink our Sonic and we ended up at an entry point to a bike path that Ben wanted to check out. As we sat there eating/drinking our sugar we started to feel a little guilty watching all those people exercise. Then we started laughing at that. Gwen loves anything cold and sweet and she kept pointing and motioning that she'd like a sip. I gaver her a sip of my fruit thing and the girl put both her hands on the sides and sucked so hard I was afraid she'd give herself a brain freeze. Below is Ben with the "large" water.

Name Funnies

Well... I have gotten some name books from the library and have been looking and looking. It is seriously very hard work for me to decide on names. I think Ben and I are narrowing it down, but we're a ways from deciding. We have to have two solid choices for both a girl and a boy since we don't know the sex of the baby and I can't name someone I haven't met yet. In one of the naming books they had these stories that made me laugh.

Popes traditionally choose a new name upon their election by the College of Cardinals. The practice began in 844 A.D. when a priest whose real name was Boca de Porco (Pig's Mouth) was elected. He changed his name to Sergious II.

A new recruit in the U.S. Army filled out all the forms he was presented with as he always had in school: R. (only) B. (only) Jones. You guessed it-- from then on he was, as far as the Army cared about it, Ronly Bonly Jones, and all his records, dogtags, and discharge papers proved the point again and again.

There are 3,037 male names in the Bible and 181 female names.

Harry S. Truman owed his middle name, the initial S., to a compromise his parents worked out. By using only the inital, they were able to please both his grandfathers, whose names were Shippe and Solomon.

Baby Bap Update

I saw the doctor today and everything is good. I measuring well and haven't gained but a few pounds, which is good. The heartbeat was 153. At this doctor's office no one knows the gender of the baby including the ultrasound tech. The only one that knows is the Lord. How cool is that?

Spaghetti Smile

This is today at lunch. Can anyone say stain remover?

Wedding Music

I am planning to sing for a wedding coming up and I have been asked to sing this song as a solo. I don't know this couple and I think they want it to sound like the recording. After I heard it I said out loud "all righty then" and decided I'd have to get my groove on for this one.



I've been asked to sing at several weddings through the years and sometimes some rather interesting song choices have come up. Here are some wedding songs I've sung and memories I have:

"We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters- that was a fine song until you get to the fast groovy part and the organ is accompanying you.

"How Beautiful"- a very popular wedding selection and beautiful song... that is, unless you forget the whole verse about the bride in it. That was embarrassing.

and the only song I've ever refused to sing at a wedding: "It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. I refused to sing the first lines in church- "holdin' you close, touchin' your skin, asking you to do what you've been doin' all over again" The couple got someone else to sing it instead. ha!

Songs Ben and I had at our wedding: I Stand In Awe, Great is Thy Faithfulness, How Could I Ask For More, and the final song I Love You for Sentimental Reasons.

Gwen Pictures

Ben had to go and retrieve Gwen out of the play tube thingy at McDonald's on Saturday.


Saturday we went to a baby shower. This is Gwen making her prediction of how many skittles are in the bottle... a shower game. :) Isn't she a beauty?

Dancing and Six Months

Getting a picture of Gwen these days is increasingly more difficult. I came down the stairs today and she was with Ben and had just eaten half a waffle, a piece of grapefruit and was munching on a ginger snap. What a snack huh? :) She loves her daddy and thinks he is so funny. The videos I'm posting below display why she thinks that. He really is funny!


This is me at six months wearing my Korean pregnancy shirt. I feel like I'm showing much earlier this time around.

Just Thinking

So, I've been reading a book called "Shepherding A Child's Heart" and also at church we've had a series of sermons on parenting. I'm just scratching the surface of understanding how huge parenting is and how you influence your kids. I went to church last night for a breakout session called "cultivating your child's spiritual life." Wow... what a huge responsibility and honor to point your kids to God. I hope I direct their hearts to want to do what God wants. Ya know?

Gwen is doing all sorts of new things... saying please, poop, (not in that order), bye bye, bubble. She also knows the words bounce, kick, and all sorts of animals. I discovered yesterday that she knows how an owl sounds. I looked at her and said "who taught you that?" I am constantly amazed at how she is becoming a little person all her own. With that said, she also let's me know when she isn't pleased with something. Sometimes I have to excuse myself into the next room to smile about those moments. In my mind at those moments I say "stinkin' Eve" referring to when she sinned first in the garden. I need to stop thinking that. :)

In other news... while my mom was here totally spoiling me and the whole family she bought a broom and dustpan with a long handle. I've wanted one for so long and let me just say... if you are pregnant, have ever been pregnant, will be pregnant, or know someone pregnant... get one of these. They are AWESOME!!

Baby Bap

These are the sonogram pictures taken of Baby Bap as of August 19th. That's been a few weeks ago... but with travel and all I haven't had the chance to scan them to share with you all until now. Everything in the ultrasound looked good- praise the Lord!

This first picture is a profile shot. What do you think? Boy or girl? We have NO idea.


Here it is showing off its beautiful spine and back of head. Isn't it amazing how babies grow in there? It is to me.

Meal Plan

It's after midnight here, but because I took a two hour long nap this afternoon, I can't sleep. So...what better time to make a grocery list and meal plan right? I'm hoping that the jet lag will wear off very soon. I just can't seem to get back to normal. By the way, I got totally spoiled having my mom here cooking for us. I had to cook dinner tonight and it almost took an act of Congress to get me to do it. (but I did) Anyway, here's the plan...

*pork and cider stew (made with some cider mom and I got while she was here)
turkey patties, mac & cheese, baby lima beans
creamy tomato soup, grilled cheese
cheese tortellini with tomatoes and corn, salad
*Cuban ropa vieja
tomato sandwiches, salad

Notice a lot of items with tomatoes? That's cause they are running out my ears. Our tomato plants are doing AWESOME this year. I've also incorporated a couple of crock pot recipes this week to help reduce the "I don't want to cook" impulse. :) (I marked the crock pot ones with a *)

22 weeks

Tomorrow I begin my sixth month. Wonder what I feel like? This video explains. :)

Ben's Bike Ride

Yesterday Ben got off from work early so he decided he would ride his bike home. He knew it would be a long ride home and he mapped it out the night before. He was so excited. It was rainy yesterday so I called him to caution him about biking, but he decided to go ahead and bike ride in the rain. He rode at least 25 miles and when he got home he said he fell twice. He had a pretty big scrape on his leg, but I was proud of him.

Here he is with the American flag in front of our house. The salute was his idea.

Korea

Well, I am back from my pregnancy adventure in South Korea. The plane ride was mighty long, but I'm glad that I went and saw this part of the world. My choir sang a lot and didn't have much free time on our hands to do touristy things, but here are some shots of what I experienced.

All the buses we rode had these kind of curtains in them. I thought they were tre' shiek. :)



Here some of us are in a Vietnamese restaurant. I had never tried Vietnamese before. I really enjoyed it. However, Korean food I think I have sworn off for life now. I took plenty of pictures of the Korean food, but didn't want to put them on here for everyone to see. Let's just say it's not my thing.


Koreans are serious about their toilets. In the Seoul airport they had these noise makers in the stall that you push and it sounds like flushing to mask any noises you make in there. Those noise makers are loud by the way. In our hotel we had the supreme toilet of all time in my opinion. It had a seat warmer that kept the seat warm all the time. It also had a feature that when you sat down a little water was put into the bowl to "get you into the mood." THEN, as if it couldn't get better... you have little buttons for the bidet and then the little red headed girl (that's what we called it) was for female urination it said. It was like a bidet, except further up. All I have to say is that the Korean toilets were a far cry from the hole in the ground that I was expecting.


This is me walking around the city of Incheon where our hotel was. It is about 1 1/2 hours from Seoul.


In Incheon, they are doing tons of construction and trying to make this city "the" place to come. In fact, here is an artist's rendering of the future skyline of Incheon. They are building the world's tallest sky scraper here.


Downtown Seoul. We spent the last day in Seoul before going to the airport. It was nice to shop and look around. There were lots of people and they had many stores that we have. Prices were not super cheap like we thought, but you could haggle which I enjoyed. Korean people wear western clothes and I was surprised that the Korean young women wore short skirts and high heels a lot. We were a novelty there and several times I got my picture taken on the sly. I'm not sure if they see fat blonds much over there. :)


This is a lady that the department stores hire to welcome customers into the parking garage. She has a microphone on and says stuff on it. I thought it was cute.


Shopping in Seoul.

Humm....

Today I was cutting vegetables and minding my own business when I came across this. Wowser!! A conjoined carrot!

Tuber Roses

I've posted a lot today, but I guess I have a lot on my mind. (huge shock) These are the flowers I got at the farmer's market in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday. They are called Tuber roses and have a smell similar to jasmine or gardenia. They are lovely!

Birds of Paradise

I personally found this fascinating.

Gwen

Here she is speaking!



This justs goes to prove that anything can be a game.

18 1/2 weeks

What does it feel like to be 18 1/2 weeks along with baby #2 many people have asked me lately. This picture pretty much sums it up.

Of course, that could have something to do with the peanut butter cookies that are now in the oven. Don't judge me! :) Seriously, I'm starting to feel the coconut. That's what I call the feeling of not being able to bend over without feeling like you're bending over a coconut. Quite an imagination huh? Well, not much else going on except we are painting like mad people on the hallway upstairs. I figure if we don't do some more house work now, I'm going to be so big I'm not going to want to do it and once baby comes... forget it! So, Ben is helping me in my goal and we are plugging along at a pretty good rate. Everything in this house is wood color, so we have to prime everything and then paint. Whew! I'd show you pictures, but would you really get goose bumps looking at pictures of a hallway? What's going on with you these days?

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Do you like to cook with your kids? This is a perfect one to have a kid help with I think. Um, Gwen didn't help me, but still. Only 4 ingredients. Can you believe it?

1 C peanut butter
1 C sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix, shape into balls, put on cookie sheet, flatten with a fork, bake at 350 for 16-18 min. I added chocolate chips just 'cause.

Meal Plan

Stuffed zucchini, salad
paneer stir fry, vegetable paji (spicy and non spicy)
roast, potatoes, carrots
green bean casserole, hamburgers
javaneze chicken
chili (made from left over roast) and cornbread
hash (made from left over roast and potatoes and carrots), salad

Vegetables

Here is Gwen carrying a purple pepper from our garden.


Here she is with a vegetable called a bitter gourd. Not from our garden, but from an Indian market. I am learning how to make a vegetable paji, which a friend made for us this week. It's delicious. It turns out I got the wrong kind of gourd. It's supposed to be bottle gourd, not bitter. I made a fool out of myself asking the kind Indian people in the market what everything was. I really would love to know how to make more Indian dishes since I love them so much and are healthy and require less meat which equals cheap!


Here's a close up of the bitter gourd. Apparently, it is pretty bitter. Sonia will tell me how to cook it.

I'm Obsessed

Disci-Plans and Mini Vans

Yesterday as I told you, we went to the library. One of the books I checked out is called "Discipline the Brazelton Way." I checked it out because in the table of contents it had a whole section on a year to 15 months which I thought was unusual. First off, I want to say that I use no method of anyone for anything. People sometimes asked me what method I used to get Gwen to finally sleep through the night... well, my own method, namely time and continuous effort! Anyway, back to the book. I am not surprised anymore that people say in books not to spank kids. I mean, lots of parents don't even want to talk about it if they do. It's just this quote that struck me... see if it "strikes" you. (pun intended)

"Using physical punishment today needs to be avoided as much as possible. I was switched whenever I 'deserved' it when I was little, but I don't remember anything I learned from it, except to hide the switch from my parents. Hitting a child is not respectful. It shows that you are bigger than he (which won't last) and it says: 'Violence is the way to settle issues.' In our present violent society, I can't recommend this as a way of helping a child learn to control himself.
I would avoid using force as a way to control a child. The goal for discipline is to teach the child how to control himself. Force won't lead to that. These days we can no longer afford to take the 'spare the rod, spoil the child' dictum so literally. It is time we took it to mean 'spare discipline, spoil the child'-- a challenging but essential warning for every parent."

I disagree with his opinion of what the goal for discipline is anyway. I believe the goal for discipline is obedience to God first and to authority... and of course, self discipline is an accompaniment to that. He acts like kids have the reasoning ability to know how to control themselves the right way all the time. I mean, I don't even think your brain is done forming until age 50! (at least the reasoning ability) I didn't like how he quoted the Bible and basically changed it. I'm talking about and reading about this because I am facing base camp of the mountain of discipline (or correction as I'm going to call it) with Gwen. She's too young to spank at this stage I feel, but definitely knows when she is about to do something wrong. She doesn't understand fully what I say, but enough. It is a tricky age I think to know how to discipline properly. It all started with throwing food off of the high chair. We have swatted her hand about that from the beginning and never treat it as a game. I ain't playin' that one, ya know? So, has it worked? Well... sometimes, but she still tries to do it. I have also taken the object out of her hand that she is threatening to drop and she doesn't like that too much. It's a puzzle really. Now she has graduated into wanting to stand up on her rocking chair and dive off. I have graduated to swatting her leg for such a thing after I tell her in a low voice and firm "no". I'm not getting worked up or anything, and I'm not angry when I do that. It is literally amazing to me to see her reaction to not getting her way of things. She gets really upset and then a second later will laugh at me whispering in her ear that I love her.

I've got another bone to pick with this dude from the book. You know, I don't remember why I was spanked a lot of the times either...but I do remember some times. I'd like to know any kid that remembers time outs and why they were there too! Kids have a short memory span. Ok, enough of my rant. :) I try not to rant much on this blog. Not many people want to read rants.. or maybe that's just me.

Do you see this beautiful van? We are now the proud owners of a minivan! My parents came up in July and gave us their "old" van and got a new one for themselves. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed and cried like a baby. We are so grateful and thankful for their generosity and we are LOVIN' the minivan life! It will be so nice with two little ones.

Korea

Ok, so Ben, Gwen and I all went to the library tonight. I found a book on Korea so I checked it out. I looked at the picture on the cover and thought... "boy, don't they look warm and inviting." Here it is:

Baby Names

So I was looking at the meanings of baby names tonight. I looked up Georgia and it means "farmer". I also looked up Morgan and it means "great circle." I told Ben that and he said "well, that's better than a little rectangle."

Why is it so hard naming people????? Any suggestions?

Meal Plan and Babysitter

taco salad
scalloped potatoes, pork chops, steamed broccoli
beef barley soup
chicken and dressing, cranberry sauce
tuna sandwiches, salad

Tomatoes and Conversations

Here are the tomatoes I harvested just tonight. Aren't they beautiful? Woo hoo! I feel like such a gardener!


The weather has been so nice lately we ate out on our back deck the other night. Here are some dinner topics that have come up recently... so imagine what it will be like when our kids get in on the conversations.

Do spiders have brains? Well, then do earthworms have brains? How do spiders know how to make webs and I wonder what it feels like to have a web coming out of their nether regions.


Here is Ben trying to convince Gwen to try lettuce.

Ben let her have a bite of his ice cream sandwich. She liked it would be putting it mildly.


I have a new favorite TV show. I don't watch a lot of TV (which is good) but I particularly like this cartoon called Rupert. It's about a bear that goes on all these crazy adventures. This is kind of sad, but sometimes Ben asks me what I'm thinking about and I tell him all about the Rupert episode that I last watched. Here is a picture of Rupert. Don't worry... my next child will not be named Rupert.