not the beach ...

I guess you don't go to the beach when you are on the East Coast, you go to the Shore so this weekend we went to the Delaware shore with our small group from church.  I'm so glad we did!  We had an amazing time of fellowship, relaxation and the kids don't care what you call it.  Sand +water = fun

The kids were fascinated by the horseshoe crab carcases  (click the link to find out why) that littered the bea .. I mean shore.  We also found the coolest conch shell seed cases (although online research led me to believe that the real name for them is the knobbled whelk).  

Phillip tried out the sea kayak while I sat and watched the kids play and play and play and play while chatting with anyone and everyone that didn't have a book in their hands.  We had a wonderful time learning new games and of course gathering around the guitar for some singing.  Here is Zak getting a rhythm lesson with the egg shaker.

The next day we decided to take the "long cut" home by taking the ferry from the Delaware shore to the Jersey shore.  It was really kind of sad to see the surfers try to catch tiny little intermittent waves.  One wave was big enough to knock Eliannah over and log roll her a few times but Zak was there to rescue her and she only ended up with a head full of sand.  Even after 2 showers she is still raining sand!  (She was fine btw.)

We drove through Atlantic city just to see what the big deal was all about (hated Vegas, I'm pretty sure I would hate Atlantic city) and came home with big smiles and no sunburns!  Gotta love the East coast!  This morning I had to sweep the falling leaves from the front of the house and it's getting chilly ... real Fall!

Psalm 139

Naturally, as soon as we told the kids I was pregnant they had a ton of questions (fortunately not any of those questions!).  Zak has listened with a look of fascination on his face when I have described what stage of development the baby is going through.  He was amazed that the baby is growing fingers and toes.  He was also concerned about how the baby got food and when I described the placenta he asked, "How can you keep track of all that?  Now I know why you are so tired!"  

It took a second for me to realize that he thought I was actively involved in forming this child.  Thank goodness I'm not!!!  Psalm 139:13-16, 23,24

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. [1]
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts! [3]
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!


Amazing!!

breaking the news to the kids

This week has been a rough week. I have been so full of hope and fear for this pregnancy I had to continually look to the Lord for strength. Until today we hadn't told the kids that I was pregnant which meant they had to deal with a sick and tired mommy for quite some time now without knowing why.

When I went in for my doctor's appointment yesterday it was pretty strange to hear myself tell the doctor that this was my 7th pregnancy! After patiently taking my whole health history she got out her little doppler. I was holding my breath waiting for that magic drum beat that would tell me things were going to be o.k.

You can't imagine how fun it was to bring the kids in so they could hear the heartbeat and then tell them the good news. Zak thought we were joking (he has been praying for a baby for a while now), Eliot looked shell shocked and Eliannah wrinkled up her nose, climbed onto my lap, looked down my shirt and said, "Where's that little baby?" (She has continued to check down my shirt throughout the day even though I explained to her that she was looking in the wrong place.)

Eliot is a little excited and wants a boy. Eliannah is a little excited and wants a babydoll. Zak has been walking around all day with a huge grin on his face exclaiming things like:
"I can't believe you're going to have a baby!
" I thought you were retired from having babies!"
" I can't believe you got pregnant in Philadelphia!"
" I can't believe we're going to have another baby in the family!!!!!!"
(He really wants a girl)

And Phillip? Well, he has prayed with me, supported me, listened to my hopes and fears and in typical Phillip fashion has begun to call the child "Twinkie" We are so blessed, grateful, amazed and honored that we get to go through this whole process again. God is good.

(Oh, and for the record, this week he has also brought me kimchi, cooked me bulgogi, brought home sushi - California rolls that is- and in every way done his best to take care of me. What a guy!)

Guess ....

What ...!!?

Minute chocolate cake

Last night Phillip complained that I never make him brownies.  It's not that I don't love him, it's that whatever he didn't finish, I would (I'm such a glutton!).  My dear brother sent me this recipe and to my suprise it actually worked!

MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
1 Coffee Mug
4 tablespoons flour(that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well . Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to share!)

I used a wide mug so it wouldn't spill all over the microwave but I didn't need to worry.  The texture is a bit off and if I had white flour it would have tasted better but the results were great!  I think I'll try playing around with the recipe some more ...

** update**  I didn't share mine with Phillip, I'll make him his own!

Creepy?

I'm not quiet sure how to feel about this article.  I don't feel like comparing myself to my mother-in-law (always a bad idea - I lose every time!) so here is Phillip and my Dad.

Um... they both have glasses. (The picture of my dad is from last year when he was in Tanzania) What do you think?  I have a terrible cold right now so I've had time to catch up on my "Discovery News" widget in Google reader as I lay relaxing on the couch.  Always interesting ...

WA DC Sunday

We kind of got a late start on our day which was very unfortunate since it got to 95% and very humid.  We also had to park about a 45 min. walk away from where we were going due to a triathlon (I felt very sorry for the runners on their final leg ... it was way hot).

Museum of Native American History

We finally made it to the Museum of Native American History which I was hoping would be a great tie in to what we are learning about Colonial History.  No such luck.  It was not very much about history and not even totally about Native Americans.  We quickly realize that the only thing we could really teach the kids was that the Native Americans came from a different culture, religion and perspective than the colonials and this was a huge reason there was such a clash as wave after wave of immigrants from Europe came and took land and built fences so we went one museum down the road to the 

Museum of Air and Space

This was the crown jewel in our whole trip for everyone in our family with an XY chromosome.  Phillip could hardly contain himself going from exhibit to exhibit reading every plaque that he could before chasing after the 2 equally exuberant boys.  When we got to the hands on interactive exhibit about lift, air pressure and others Eliannah and I sat down on a bench and tried not to fall asleep.  I feel like such a girl writing this, I would normally be quiet interested but I got so tired out from the heat I could barely look around, touch the moon rock  and hope I could make it back.  Maybe I should let Phillip write this part..

While wondering around on our way out of town we took a trip down embassy road.  It was so cool to see all the different embassies - some were more elaborate than others.  Too much to see!  We drove around Arlington but after reading a sign that asked everyone to conduct themselves with respect and decorum we decided not to take our over-tired children around so we talked to them about sacrifice, patriotism and heroism.  It really connected with what we had told them about 9-11 when we drove past the Pentagon.  It also connected with with the story they had listened to in the car on the way down called "The Light Princess" by George McDonald.  And if this blog post is a bit rambly ... it's late and I need to go to bed.

WA DC Saturday

This weekend we booked it out of Philly and headed to DC in a tremendous rainstorm. Our hotel was less than a minute from the Pentagon and possibly 2 minutes from Arlington National Cemetery. Driving past so much history and political splendor was incredible! Saturday morning we headed toward the national mall and decided to go visit some of the Smithsonian museums. I guess after being a subscriber to the magazine for so many years I was really looking forward to this!

(This is a picture of the Smithsonian Castle which we didn't go inside since it is an administraitive building now)

Museum of Natural History
We went to the Museum of Natural History first since that is where the dinosaur bones are and had a wonderful time looking at all sorts of stuffed animals (one entire wing was dedicated to animals from different habitats in North America) and of course the huge T-Rex, Allasaur and various other skeletons. We had a nice chat with the kids about creationism vs. natural selection before we went in but it proved to be unnecessary. All they wanted to do was go from exhibit to exhibit and name their favorite dinosaurs (Zak has been able to tell the difference btwn. a T-Rex and an Allasaur since he was 4 - turns out an allasaur has 3 digits, a T-Rex has 2). It was great to see what they had retained from all the dinosaur books I've read to them. I just hope I pronounced all those huge names right.


National Mall

After naps we headed out for dinner and walked around the national mall. Phillip gave a long lecture to the boys about the 3 branches of government and pointed out the buildings each branch worked in. It was totally over their heads but at least we tried. They loved seeing the White House and the secret service men with all their heavy weapons guarding the gates. They also had some fun playing around the various monuments.

Booked

That's right folks .... I booked our tickets home which means barring any delay or other problem we will be flying into Burbank CA in   26 days!! (Oct 11)

and now ... hurricane Ike

It was time to buy the kids umbrellas but since everything is a weapon I decided on this: Rain Ghosts! (you have to admit it, it is descriptive). And speaking of weapons, since we have a finished basement here the kids use it as their playroom. When it is time to clean up the toys that somehow reach the living room (ground floor) they are supposed to take them downstairs. This morning when I asked Eliannah to put her baby away she lovingly picked it up, went to the top of the stairs, peered down and tossed that doll exclaiming, "Baby bommmmmmbbbbbbb". What a nut!

What to do?

6 little blackbirds sitting on the stairs
1 got up and wondered off somewheres

5 little blackbirds shaking paper cups
2 screaming blasphemy when you won't fill it up

3 little blackbirds mumbling in the street
go around them Pharisee, be careful who you greet!

Those same 3 little blackbirds huddled round a fire
sitting in a cardboard box
in your old attire.

look away walk away
you're safe inside your own doorway
who cares if theirs is made of a tarp
and 6 of them froze last night in the park?


Homelessness is a huge problem around here but apart from donating stuff to local homeless shelters what to do? In SLO there were a few that you would see in Mitchel Park or at the Starbucks next to the outlets but here it's so bad the library has one guard per bathroom that never leave their post. Also, children are not allowed to use the adult bathrooms for their own safety and must use the special kids bathroom in the children's section. Phillip is getting pretty tired of living here since there are by no means enough public restrooms and with the amount of homeless people wandering around we've had to avoid more than dog doo if you know what I mean.

I've never heard a satisfactory solution to the problem. My own private rule when I'm with the kids is: don't talk to the crazy ones. But what about the rest? Is giving them a cereal bar really the compassionate thing to do? Is it the only thing to do? Is it the safe thing to do? Sigh .. with winter coming I know people here are going to freeze.

Hurricane Hannah

Well, about a million buckets of rain (plus a few dogs and cats) put a crimp in our Saturday plans. We tried driving around but with all that rain it was impossible to get very far. The kids loved it, it was warm since it was a tropical storm but without raincoats or enough umbrellas (only have 2) we decided to stay inside much of the day and do our "fun thing" on Sunday.



(Personal note to the Grannies: you can only see the full pikistrip in Google reader or by clicking one of the pictures. For some reason my new blog format doesn't support 3 accross tables, rows or pikistrip pictures.)

and speaking of smiles ...

I have to admit, I laughed at Phillip when he came home from Korea last year with a serious Kimchi habit.  I guess over there you eat it at every meal (breakfast included- even on pancakes).  I thought it was nasty- fermented vegetables? Please.  If you leave the lid on the container it can burst unless is it immediately refrigerated.  Well, I guess I'm going to have to eat my words ... after trying it at a Korean restaurant about a month ago I've been craving it ever since.  So when my husband came home with a white bag in his hands I was really hoping it was Kimchi - not donuts.  What is wrong with me?

Oh, and some useless facts about Kimchi, they had to develop a "space Kimchi" to send with Korean astronauts headed to the Russian Space station.  Also, since Kimchi is so popular Koreans will smile and say "Kimchi" when getting their picture taken.  It is also made it into the world's top 5 healthiest foods.  Hooray for rotten veggies!

Things that make me smile

The name of Philadelphia's Mayor - M.A. Nutter
Itunes:
- B.N.L's "Snacktime" album
- "Glory revealed"

- Regina Spektor's "Music box"

Eliot's lego "mochalotives"
the boys playing babies with Eliannah
Eliannah's lego "motel" (for said babies)
Zak going around saying, "How you doing" just like a native
Trader Joes gummy vitamins
John McCain's VP pick
looking forward to 10 year from now when we can do this
"Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's farm" on CD from the library
Adventures in Odyssey free episodes on podcast
going to the soap box durby on Sat.
doing "science experiences" for home school
and tomorrow, with any luck we will be making butter and going to Elfrath's alley.
(Who says home school has to take place at home?)

What make you smile?

too big for those britches ...

Eliannah has a cold, poor girl. She's been extra cuddly, extra mellow and has this deep raspy voice that just has her giggling at everything she says (she loves it!). Today when I asked her to pick up the shoes and put them away in the shoebox she grabbed my high heels (which went really well with her new jean skirt), marched straight up to me, put her hands on her hips and said, "Hi sugar!". It was so precocious!